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lEx  ICtbrta 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"Ever'thin^  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


EXPOSE  OF  THE  FACTS 


CONCERNING  THE 


k^pMtl  (B\m\d  W^tmi  llattmy  ^nt^pn^^ 


CITY  OF  NEW- YORK. 


1866. 


NEW- YORK. 
1866. 


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EXPOSE  OF  THE  FACTS 

CONCERNING  THE 
IN  THE 

CITY    OF  NEW-YOEK. 


The  Directors  of  the  "  Broadway  and  Yonkers  Patent  Railway 
Company,"  as  duly  organized  according  to  law,  deem  it  advisa- 
ble to  make  sucli  a  statement  of  tlie  facts  relating  to  tliat  enter- 
prise as  shall  enable  the  public  more  correctly  to  judge  of  its 
merits  and  title  to  favor  and  encouragement. 

ITS  HISTORY. 

During  the  past  year  one  of  the  most  successful  practical 
engineers  in  this  country  devised  a  new  method  of  attaching  and 
propelling  cars  upon  Railways  by  means  of  the  well-known 
system  of  cables  or  wire  rope  attached  to  stationary  engines. 
Hitherto  no  practical  plan  has  been  invented,  by  which  cars 
could  be  stopped  or  started  without  changing  the  motion  of  the 
stationary  engine ;  and  by  which  cars  could  pass  from  one  length 
of  endless  rope  to  another  without  delay  or  danger  in  becoming 
detached  from  one,  and  attached  to  the  next  in  succession. 

It  is  well  known  that  some  of  the  highest  mechanical  talent 
in  England,  as  well  as  in  the  United  States,  has  endeavored  for 
years  to  solve  the  problem  without  success.  By  the  method 
above  alluded  to  the  difRculty  appears  to  be  entirely  obviated, 
in,  a  simple  and  yet  perfect  contrivance,  which  enables  the  con- 
ductor inside  of  his  car  to  detach  or  attach  the  same,  from  or  to 
the  propelling  cable  at  pleasure,  by  the  mere  shifting  of  a  lever ; 
and  by  another  self-acting  lever,  the  cars  can  pass  at  a  high  speed 
from  one  length  of  moving  cable  to  another,  and  disconnect  and 
connect  themselves  at  the  proper  place  with  exact  certainty. 


4 


This  plan  having  been  patented  in  this  country  and  in  Europe, 
the  patentee  found  that  special  legislation  was  desirable  to  per- 
mit of  its  introduction  in  this  State,  and  to  secure  capital  to  in- 
troduce it  in  foreign  countries. 

On  exhibiting  the  plans  to  the  most  eminent  engineers  in  this 
country,  they  unanimously  indorsed  it  as  worthy  of  encourage- 
ment, and  upon  their  written  recommendation,  the  Legislature 
of  the  State  of  New-York  passed  an  act  (April  20,  1866)  provid- 
ing for  the  formation  of  companies  to  introduce  that  peculiar  mode 
of  locomotion  within  this  State  or  elsewhere. 

The  Patentee,  having  succeeded  thus  at  Albany,  then  vis- 
ited ]^ew-York  City,  as  confessedly  needing  such  an  improvement 
more  than  any  other  city  in  this  or  perhaps  any  other  country. 
The  offer  was  made,  that  if  any  number  of  citizens  would  join 
in  providing  the  necessary  means  to  test  its  adaptability  to  an 
Elevated  Kailway  by  actual  experiment,  the  contract  would  be 
placed  in  their  hands,  and  in  case  of  success,  a  reasonable  minor 
interest  would  be  accepted  as  an  equivalent  for  the  patented 
rights.  In  case  of  failure  to  meet  expectations,  only  the  actual 
loss  of  the  experiment  agreed  upon  would  be  risked  or  sustained. 

These  terms  were  first  proposed  to  the  richest  merchant  in  the 
city,  who  declined  to  become  identified  in  any  way  with  the  ex- 
periment ;  but  said  that  he  would  have  no  objection  to  its  being 
made  anywhere  outside  of  Broadway.  The  attempt  was  made 
to  enlist  sufficient  capital  to  test  the  experiment  on  some  single 
side-route,  but,  after  two  months'  effort,  it  had  to  be  abandoned 
by  the  patentee,  as  not  likely  to  succeed. 

The  idea  was  then  suggested,  that  capital  might  be  enlisted  by 
the  inducement  of  a  right  to  apply  it  to  Broadway,  in  case  of  its 
proving  a  success  on  a  side-street.  As  a  dernier  resort,  the  pat- 
entee, formally  proposed  the  plan  to  the  citizens  of  I^ew-York 
generally,  and  after  considerable  hesitation,  even  then,  a  sufficient 
number  were  found,  who  were  willing  to  risk  their  money  on  those 
terms  and  inducements.  Accordingly  articles  of  association  were 
subscribed  to  under  the  organic  act,  and  two  main  routes  be- 
tween Manhattan  Island  and  "Westchester  County  provided  fgr ; 
one  on  the  east  side,  and  one  on  the  west  side — Broadway  be- 
ing attached  to  the  latter ;  and  the  subscribers  to  the  stock  having 
the  same  interest  in  each. 

The  money  was  at  once  paid  in  sufficient  to  warrant  proceed- 
ing with  the  erection  of  the  proposed  experimental  section  of 
half  a  mile  in  length,  of  the  west  side  line,  on  Greenwich  street, 


5 


and  an  application  to  the  Common  Conncil  for  the  requisite 
permission  was  voted  to  be  made  forthwith.  It  was  hoped  that 
during  the  following  six  months  the  experimental  section  could 
be  erected  in  time  to  exhibit  it  to  the  Legislature,  and  secure  its 
sanction  to  such  further  legislation  as  would  unquestionably  be 
necessary  to  provide  for  its  extension  in  the  city,  and  across  the 
Harlem  Kiver,  in  the  best  manner  for  the  public  and  private  in- 
terests involved. 

AVith  this  in  view,  Hon.  J.  S.  Bosworth  was  engaged  as 
counsel,  and  the  preparation  of  the  proper  form  of  consent  from 
the  city  was  left  to  him  to  arrange  with  the  Council.  His  draft 
of  the  same  was,  with  such  modifications  as  they  saw  proper, 
reported  by  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  Council,  after  a 
week's  consideration,  and  their  report  was  adopted  by  that  body 
as  representing  the  city  by  a  more  than  two-thirds  vote.  His 
Honor  the  Mayor  returned  the  same  without  his  approval.  A 
committee  representing  the  Patent  Companies  waited  upon  him 
to  inquire  whether  any  form  of  resolution  for  city  assent  to  the 
proposed  routes  could  be  drafted  which  would  meet  his  approval 
b^  being  sufficiently  guarded  on  all  questionable  points,  including 
satisfactory  rates  of  fare.  His  reply  was  courteously  but  firmly 
given,  that  his  approval  could  not,  by  any  possibility,  be  obtained, 
and  hence  the  veto  was  inevitable. 

Of  course  no  alternative  remained  but  to  await  the  decision  of 
the  Council,  whether  they  would,  at  the  expiration  of  the  ten 
days'  interval,  required  by  the  charter,  adhere  to  their  assent  by  a 
a  two-thirds  vote.  During  that  time  Mr.  A.  T.  Stewart  applied  for 
and  obtained  a  temporary  injunction  from  Judge  Barnard,  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  to  restrain  the  Council  from  acting  on  the  veto, 
or  from  taking  any  further  action  toward  permiting  even  a  harm- 
less experimental  section  to  be  erected  to  test  the  feasibility  of 
the  invention,  independent  of  any  actual  erection  on  Broadway. 
At  the  appointed  time  for  a  hearing  in  Court  to  decide  whether 
the  injunction  should  be  made  permanent.  Judge  Barnard  in- 
formed the  learned  counsel  for  the  Companies  and  the  Common 
Council,  before  argument,  that  his  mind  was  made  up  to  continue 
the  injunction  intact  to  the  General  Term  of  the  Court,  which 
would  occur  in  November  following. 

RESULTS  PRESENT  AND  CONTEMPLATED. 

Thus  the  experiment  can  not  be  instituted  until  after  that 
time,  and  one  great  object  of  having  it  ready  for  the  inspection 


6 


of  the  Legislature  is  probably  prevented,  unless  most  extraordi- 
nary and  expensive  constructive  measures  should  be  instituted  to 
secure  the  experiment  before  the  legislative  adjournment. 

The  legal  rights  of  the  Companies  under  the  authority  of  the 
Council,  if  the  injunction  were  removed,  would  doubtless  have  to 
be  passed  upon  by  the  Court  of  Appeals,  before  all  parties  would 
acquiesce  in  the  general  construction,  and  this  decision  could  not 
be  reached  until  after  the  Legislature  is  in  its  next  session, 
which  has  sovereign  power  over  the  whole  subject,  and  should 
have  all  possible  experimental  information  at  its  command. 

The  Directors  hoped  to  have  secured  such  data,  as  to  running 
expenses,  from  the  experiment,  as  to  have  felt  it  safe  to  submit  to 
the  Legislature  a  proposal  to  have  fares  for  working  men  limited 
to  ten  cents  for  the  entire  length  of  Manhattan  Island,  with  an 
obligation  to  run  ample  trains  for  their  especial  accommodation, 
before  and  after  working  hours  each  day,  and  with  time  equal  to 
any  trains  run  on  the  railways. 

There  is  reason  to  expect  that  by  this  method  cars  may  be 
safely  run  from  Chatham  Square  to  the  Harlem  Eiver  in  twenty 
minutes,  the  distance  being  estimated  at  seven  miles.  If  this 
speed  and  safety  should  be  realized,  it  is  apparent  that  a  social 
revolution  would  at  once  occur  in  the  city  of  ^^ew-York,  which 
would  rejoice  the  heart  of  every  well-wisher  to  his  species. 

The  boon  to  the  working  class  would  then  be  obtained,  which 
the  merchants,  the  physicians,  and  the  clergy  so  anxiously  crave, 
but  confess  themselves  unable  to  devise ;  and  in  case  it  is  long 
delayed,  so  graphically  portray  the  social  evils  and  disorders  which 
must  follow  from  the  fearful  overcrowding,  already  developed 
but  still  increasing.  If  the  above  hope  is  realized,  there  will  be 
nothing  to  deter  the  working  man  from  having  his  family  com- 
fortably housed  at  the  northerly  end  of  the  island,  or  in  West- 
chester county,  and  within  the  lapse  of  half  an  hour  be  placed 
at  his  workshop  door  before  the  labors  of  the  day  commence,  and 
at  night  find  a  comfortable  seat  in  a  car  detailed  on  purpose  to 
take  him  back  to  the  pure  air  of  the  countrj^,  in  the  same  time  it 
formerly  took  him  to  walk  to  his  comfortless  perch  in  some  lofty 
tenement-house.  The  shop-girl  will,  in  like  manner,  be  accom- 
modated, and  need  no  longer  know  the  temptation  to  spend  her 
evenings  in  the  excitement  of  the  theatre  or  the  glare  of  the  pave- 
ment to  escape  from  a  suffocating  domicile. 

In  this  view  of  the  case,  factious  opposition  to  the  proposed 


7 


experiment  seems  a  flagrant  sin,  which  must  be  frowned  down  by 
society  in  self-defense. 

There  are  other  facts,  however,  which  mark  the  present  legal 
injunctions  as  particularly  unfortunate.  One  is,  that  the  want  ot 
improved  street  locomotion  is  felt  in  European  cities  almost  as 
much  as  in  Kew-York,  and  any  relief  will  be  hailed  there  with 
satisfaction. 

The  London  Times  lately  stated  that  the  press  in  the  streets  ot 
London  has  not  been  sensibly  diminished  by  the  use  of  the  famous 
Underground  railway  system ;  that  some  one  hundred  and  fifty 
lives  were  lost  in  that  city  during  the  preceding  year  by  the 
crush  of  vehicles  at  street-crossings ;  and  that  some  new  plan  ot 
relief  was  loudly  called  for  as  a  growing  necessity. 

The  same  remarks  hold  good,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  of  all 
the  large  cities  in  Great  Britain  and  on  the  Continent,  and  partic- 
ularly of  Paris. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  that  the  French  Government,  after  its 
usual  rigid  examination,  has  forward  to  the  inventor  recently,  a 
patent  covering  the  same  claims  as  granted  in  this  country,  and 
herein  referred  to.  Semi-official  intimations  have  been  given  to 
the  patentee  that  the  erection  of  such  a  railway  around  the 
grounds  of  the  Universal  Exhibition  of  1867,  and  between  it  and 
the  streets  of  Paris,  would  be  favored  by  the  Government,  and 
the  right  conceded  to  charge  such  fares  as  would  make  it  highly 
remunerative. 

If  the  experiment  proposed  in  ISTew-York  proved  a  success,  all 
the  capital  to  start  a  line  in  Paris,  and  at  the  Exhibition,  would  be 
subscribed  at  once,  and  command  a  premium  for  its  prospective 
profits. 

But  aside  from  the  financial  inducements,  it  would  be  a  cause 
of  national  credit  and  eclat  to  exhibit  such  an  industrial  achieve- 
ment ;  and  there  is  reason  to  think  it  would  be  the  grandest  dis- 
play of  industrial  and  mechanical  progress  which  the  United 
States  can  thus  make  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  as  it  would  be  the 
]nost  prominent  improvement  at  the  Fair. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  is  annoying  and  humiliating  to  re- 
flect that  consent  can  not  be  had  for  the  demonstration  of  a  harm- 
less experiment  in  a  secondary  street  in  New- York,  the  Mecca 
of  Yankee  enterprise.  As  well  might  Fulton  have  been  forbid- 
den from  starting  from  her  docks  with  his  experimental  steam* 
boat ! 

The  Directors  have  the  impression  that  the  ideas  of  some  prop- 


8 


ertj-owners,  as  to  the  appearance  and  injury  of  the  proposed 
railway  on  Broadway,  are  greatly  exaggerated,  and  that  if  they 
could  but  see  it  in  actual  operation  they  would  own  their  fears 
unfounded.  To  illustrate  this  supposition,  the  Directors  have 
caused  an  accurate  survey  and  careful  plan  of  A.  T.  Stewart's 
store  on  Broadway  to  be  drawn  by  a  skillful  engineer,  and  the  en- 
graving on  an  exact  scale  is  intended  to  accompany  these  pages. 

By  this  it  appears  that  no  car  running  on  the  track  over  the 
curbstones  can  go  within  fourteen  feet  of  the  building ;  that  the 
entire  columns  will  not  occupy  more  than  five  square  feet  out  ot 
2880  aggregate  surface  square  feet  of  pavement,  under  the  latest 
plan  of  construction,  where  a  supporting  awning-frame  is  permit- 
ted ;  while  the  Council  restrict  the  surface  to  be  occupied  by  col- 
umns to  sixteen  square  feet,  or  about  one  third  of  one  per  cent  of 
the  space  between  Mr.  Stewart's  store  and  the  curbstone  in  front. 
Insignificant  as  this  space  seems,  it  is  yet  demonstrable  that  by 
the  proposed  route  and  plan,  more  passengers  can  be  conveyed 
between  the  Battery  and  Union  Square  in  a  given  time,  than  by 
all  the  longitudinal  lines  of  horse  railways  now  existing  on  the 
Island,  in  their  usual  manner.  And  further,  the  Directors  are  ot 
opinion  that  a  j  iiry  of  architects  would  find  a  verdict  that  the  erec- 
tion of  the  line  in  an  ornamental  style,  as  might  easily  be  done, 
would  improve  rather  than  injure  the  general  appearance  ot 
Broadway,  splendid  as  it  is,  or  wiU  be  when  finished.  Finally, 
it  is  claimed  that  the  cars  will  move  so  quietly  and  noiselessly, 
that  a  person  standing  in  Mr.  Stewart's  store,  or  even  doorway, 
could  not  tell  when  a  car  passed  by  the  sound. 

If  these  assertions  are  proven  by  the  experimental  section,  the 
Directors  do  not  see  why  Mr.  Stewart  need  feel  called  upon  to 
oppose  the  construction  of  the  proposed  line  in  Broadway,  much 
less  as  an  experiment  in  Greenwich  street. 

After  the  legal  delays  had  so  unexpectedly  intervened,  the  sub- 
scribers to  the  experiment  were  called  upon  to  decide  whether  its 
further  prosecution  should  be  abandoned.  They  almost  unani- 
mously decided  to  adhere,  and  requested  the  Directors  to  en- 
deavor to  remove  the  legal  impediments  by  recourse  to  the  Courts 
or  the  Legislature. 

Acting  under  these  instructions,  the  Directors  will  use  all  pro- 
per endeavors  to  that  end ;  and  as  much  misapprehension  probably 
exists  in  the  public  mind  on  the  subject,  they  propose  to  make  a 
simple  and  brief  exjpose  of  the  facts  relating  to  the  proposed  en- 
terprise in  New- York  City,  as  follows  : 


9 


1.  The  local  and  sanitary  necessity. 

2.  The  present  legal  authority. 

3.  The  mechanical  invention,  and  rival  plans. 

4.  The  patented  rights. 

5.  The  architectural  effect. 

6.  The  apphcation  made  for  the  assent  of  the  Council. 

7.  The  form  of  assent  passed  by  the  same. 

8.  The  complaint  of  A.  T.  Stewart  to  the  Court,  and  its  injunc- 
tion. 

9.  The  opinions  of  the  Press  previously  expressed. 

10.  An  Appendix  with  germane  facts  in  detail. 

"With  these  facts,  it  is  hoped  that  the  public  will  take  a  lively 
interest  in  the  measures  proposed,  which  seem  so  clearly  for  the 
benefit  of  every  citizen  of  or  visitor  to  the  city  of  New- York, 
Respectfully  submitted. 

W.  S.  GURNEE,  \ 

J.  P.  Yelverton,  j 

"W.  H.  Appleton,  / 

J.  H.  Hall,  f 

P.  Trask,  \   Resident  Directors. 

R.  Turner,  [ 

D.  Crawford,  Jr.,  \ 

Isaac  Scott,  i 

F.  Work,  / 


THE  LOCAL  AND  SANITARY  NECESSITY  OF 

ELEVATED  RAILWAYS. 


EVIDENCE  PRESENTED  BY  THE  "CITIZENS'  ASSOCIATION."* 


The  "  Citizens'  Association  "  was  formed  by  leading  gentlemen  in 
New- York  to  procure  information  as  to  the  health  and  over-crowd- 
ing of  the  city.  From  the  volume  published  by  them,  the  Company 
has  drawn  largely  for  facts  at  once  pertinent  and  incontrovertible. 
To  prove  this,  the  preliminary  correspondence  and  the  names  ap- 
pended thereto,  and  some  portion  of  the  facts  vouched  for,  are  given 
as  follows ;  while  further  details  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 


The  Citizens'  Association  of  New-York, 

Office^  813  Broadway. 


To 


VALENTINE  MOTT,  M.D., 
WILLARD  PARKER,  M.D., 
JAMES  R.  WOOD,  M.D., 
STEPHEN  SMITH,  M.D., 
JOHN  H.  GRISCOM,  M.D., 
ISAAC  E.  TAYLOR,  M.D., 
ELISHA  HARRIS,  M.D., 
WILLIAM  C.  ANDERSON,  M.D., 
EDWARD  DEL  AFIELD,  M.D., 
JOSEPH  M.  SMITH,  M.D., 
JOHN  0.  STONE,  M.D., 
CHARLES  HENSCHEL,  M.D., 


New- York,  March  2,  1864. 
ISAAC  WOOD,  M.D., 
CHARLES  D.  SMITH,  M.D., 
E.  R.  PEASLEE,  M.D., 
AUSTIN  FLINT,  M.D., 
FRANK  H.  HAMILTON,  M.D., 
B.  FORDYCE  BARKER,  M.D., 
THADDEUS  HALSTED,  M.D., 
JARED  LINSLEY,  M.D., 
J.  T.  METCALFE,  M.D., 
GURDON  BUCK,  M.D., 
WILLIAM  N.  BLAKEMAN,  M.D., 
JAMES  ANDERSON,  M.D. 


Dear  Sirs  :  Our  Association  is  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of  tak- 
ing active  steps  in  relation  to  the  Sanitary  Condition  of  our  City. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Citizens'  Association  of  New- York,  held  on  the  twen- 
ty-ninth February,  ultimo,  the  undersigned  were  appointed  a  Committee  to 
address  a  Letter  to  Physicians,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  from  the  Medical 


*  See  Sanitary  Condition  of  New- York.  Eeport  by  Council  of  Hygiene  to  Citizens' 
Association.    D,  Appleton  &  Co.  Second  edition.  1866. 


11 


Profession  the  fullest  and  most  reliable  information  relative  to  the  public  health . 
Will  you,  at  your  earliest  convenience,  favor  us  with  the  desired  information  ? 

The  importance  of  this  subject  to  all  classes  can  scarcely  be  over-estimated, 
as  from  the  evidence  already  before  this  Association  it  appears  that  the  excess 
of  mortality  is  needless  and  alarming. 
Very  respectfully  yours, 


lo  the  Committee  on  Sanitary  Inquiry^  etc.^  of  the  Citizens'  Association  of 
New-  York : 

Gentlemen  :  In  replying  to  your  letter  of  inquiry  requesting  information  con- 
cerning the  public  health  of  this  city,  we  would  briefly  state  a  few  leading  facts 
relating  to  the  rate  of  mortality  in  this  community,  and  also  refer  to  some  of 
the  conditions  of  insalubrity  among  us. 

The  city  of  New-York  ought  to  be  one  of  the  most  healthy  cities  in  the 
world,  for  no  other  large  city  is  favored  with  greater  natural  advantages  of  local- 
ity and  climate,  and  probably  no  city  has  a  greater  influx  of  a  vigorous  and- 
healthy  population,  from  the  rural  districts  and  from  foreign  countries. 

But  a  fearfully  high  death-rate  prevails  in  this  city.  This  is  the  sure  crite- 
rion of  the  public  health,  and  it  is  the  most  reliable  test  of  the  sanitary  condi- 
tion of  any  populous  community.  Extensive  observation  proves  that  it  is  not 
difficult  to  state  about  what  proportion  of  deaths  in  great  cities  may  properly 
be  attributed  to  preventable  diseases,  and  consequently  what  may  be  pro- 
perly regarded  as  a  necessary  and  inevitable  rate  of  mortality  in  such  a  popula- 
tion. 

The  highest  medical  and  statistical  authorities  of  Europe  have  shown  the 
propriety  and  importance  of  such  estimates  in  vital  statistics. 

The  total  number  of  deaths  in  the  city  of  New-York,  during  the  year  1863, 
according  to  the  City  Inspector's  returns,  was  25,196!  This  is  equal  to  one 
death  in  every  thirty-Jive  of  the  inhabitants,  estimating  the  population  of  the 
city  last  year  at  900,000. 

According  to  Dr.  E.  M.  Snow,  the  distinguished  Health  Officer  of  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  the  mortality  in  the  following  six  neighboring  cities,  during  the 
year  1863,  may  be  stated  as  follows  : 


HAMILTON  FISH, 
JOHN  DAVID  WOLFE, 
EDWARD  S.  JAFFRAY, 
JOHN  JACOB  ASTOR,  Jr., 
JAMES  M.  BROWN, 
JONATHAN  STURGES, 
ROBERT  B.  ROOSEVELT, 
AUGUST  BELMONT, 
CHARLES  O'CONOR, 
NATHANIEL  SANDS, 
•CHARLES  A.  SECOR, 
MORRIS  KETCH  UM, 


Commitiee  appointed  at  a  Meet' 
ing  of  the  Citizens'  Associa- 
tion of  Neiv-York,  held  Feb- 
ruary 29,  1 864. 


New- York,  March  9,  1864. 


Estimated 
Population. 


Deaths 
1863. 

25,196 
14,220 
4,698 
1,952 
1,214 
683 


Of  Population, 
one  in 


New- York,.. . 
Philadelphia,. 

Boston,  

Newark,  N.  J. 
Providence,  . 
Hartford, . . . . 


900,000 
620,000 
194,000 
85,000 
55,000 
32,000 


35.7 
43.6 
41.2 
43.5 
45.3 
64.8 


It  is  not  for  us  to  state  what  the  rate  of  mortality  in  New-York  should  have 
been,  under  proper  sanitary  regulations,  the  past  year,  but  we  would  present  a 
few  facts  to  show  the  results  of  improvements  in  sanitary  government  of  great 


12 


cities,  which,  with  natural  advantages  of  salubrity  far  inferior  to  those  of  New- 
York,  have  been  rescued  from  a  condition  of  fearful  insalubrity,  and  rendered 
far  more  healthful  than  our  city  now  is. 

The  rate  of  mortality  in  the  following  cities,  with  the  present  system  of  sanitary  government,  has 


While  in  the  City  of  New-York  the  death-rate  has  increased  from  1  in  46|,  [in  the  year  1810,] 
to  1  in  35,  at  the  present  time. 

Facts  like  these  should  arouse  the  attention  of  all  persons  who  feel  an  inter- 
est in  human  welfare  or  in  the  prosperity  of  our  city.  Yet  we  would  point  to 
the  high  death-rate  that  prevails  in  the  city  simply  as  a  rehable  index  to  the 
physical  sufferings,  the  want,  the  neglect,  the  sickness,  the  orphanage  and  pau- 
perism, with  which  such  excessive  mortality  is  always  associated. 

The  experience  of  other  great  cities,  and  the  teachings  of  sanitary  science, 
warrant  the  opinion  that  the  present  rate  of  mortality  may  be  reduced  fully 
THIRTY  PER  CENT.  Such  a  reductioH  would  save  from  YOOO  to  10,000  lives  in 
this  city  during  the  present  year.  But  the  saving  of  this  vast  number  of  pre- 
cious lives  is  not  the  only,  nor  is  it  the  greatest,  benefit  that  would  result  to 
the  health  and  welfare  of  the  city  by  means  of  suitable  sanitary  government. 

It  is  a  medical  and  statistical  fact  that  for  every  death  in  a  large  community 
there  are  at  least  twenty-eight  cases  of  sickness.  This  would  give,  in  the 
population  of  our  city,  iqmard  of  two  hiuidred  thousand  cases  of  preventaMe 
and  needless  sickness  every  year !  This  conclusion  is  fully  warranted  by  the 
statistics  of  our  public  charities,  and  by  medical  observation,  and  it  is 
based  upon  broad  inquiries  and  generalization  respecting  sickness  and  mor- 
tality in  Great  Britain,  as  stated  by  Dr.  Lyon  Play  fair,  a  distinguished  author- 
ity in  Hygiene. 

It  is  a  maxim  in  the  medical  profession  that  it  is  far  easier  to  prevent 
disease  than  to  cure  it,  and  it  certainly  is  far  more  economical  to  do  so.  And 
when  we  remember  that  the  great  excess  of  mortahty  and  of  sickness  in  our 
city  occurs  among  the  poorer  classes  of  the  population,  and  that  such  excessive 
unhealthiness  and  mortality  is  a  most  prolific  source  of  physical  and  social 
want,  demoralization  and  pauperism,  the  subject  of  needed  sanitary  reforms,  in 
this  crowded  metropoHs,  assumes  such  important  bearings  and  such  a  vast 
magnitude  as  to  demand  the  most  serious  consideration  of  all  persons  who 
regard  the  welfare  of  their  fellow-beings,  or  the  best  interests  of  the  commu- 
nity. 

We  will  not  extend  this  statement,  but  would  conclude  by  saying  that  the 
sacredness  of  human  life  and  the  inestimable  value  of  health  are  incentives  that 
can  be  relied  upon  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  all  true  physicians  in  your  efforts 
to  promote  sanitary  reforms. 


been — 


In  London,  

In  Liverpool, . . . 
In  Philadelphia, 


 1  in  45 

 1  in  44 

1  in  44  to  1  in  57 


Respectfully  yours, 


VALENTINE  MOTT,  M.D.,  1  Gramercy  Park, 
WILLARD  PARKER,  M.D.,  37  East  12th  Street, 
ISAAC  WOOD,  M.D.,  68  East  17th  Street, 
JAMES  R.  WOOD,  M.D.,  2  Irving  Place, 


and  twenty  others. 


,  Esq., 

Esq.,     >  Committee  for  Sanitary  Inquiry^  etc. 


and  others. 


J 


The  "  Citizens'  Association"  is  represented  by  its  "  Council," 
which  thus  in  the  name  of  the  Association  indorses  the  report  of  the 
Physicians,  and  remarks  on  the  general  facts — 


13 


REMARKS  BY  THE  "COUNCIL." 

"Franklin's  aphorism  that  Public  Health  is  PuMic  Wealthy  finds  ample  con- 
firmation in  the  experience  of  all  populous  communities ;  and  when  our  best 
medical  men  assure  us  that  a  vast  proportion  of  the  sickness  in  our  city  is  pro- 
duced by  causes  that  are  positively  ^re«enia&?^,  or  that  may  be  removed  ;  and 
when  they  state  the  fact  that  the  preventable  waste  of  life  and  health,  in  the 
city  of  New-York,  may  safely  be  estimated  at  seven  thousand  lives,  and  more  than 
two  hundred  thousand  cases  of  sickness  every  3'ear — shall  not  every  citizen  bestir 
himself  to  terminate  such  a  waste  of  the  richest  physical  blessings  which  the 
Creator  has  bestowed  upon  mankind  ?  'All  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for 
his  life ; '  and  yet,  to  society  at  large,  the  care  and  protection  of  life  and  health 
is  a  cumulative  good,  which  confers  benefits  that  multiply  and  extend  like  the 
good  deeds  of  well-spent  days.  Sanitary  improvements  directly  promote  the 
material  advancement  of  a  people,  while  they  bring  into  operation  the  most  re- 
liable and  effectual  agencies  for  social  and  moral  elevation. 

"  Their  ultimate  and  highest  results  reach  far  beyond  pecuniary  advantage ; 
they  take  deep  hold  upon  the  noblest  sympathies  and  sentiments  of  all  classes 
of  society  ;  they  confer  benefits  upon  all  alike. 

"  The  relation  of  the  health  and  vigorous  life  of  a  people  to  the  state,  or  to  com- 
mercial prosperity,  requires  no  discussion  in  this  statement.  From  Plato  to  the 
greatest  of  modern  statesmen  and  economists,  the  sanitary  welfiire  of  a  people 
has  justly  been  deemed  an  essential  element  of  social  and  commercial  advance- 
ment; and  so  intimately  related  do  we  find  the  sanitary  and  the  social  wants 
of  the  population  in  the  city  of  New-York,  that,  from  the  outset  of  reformatory 
efforts,  whether  social  and  political  or  exclusively  moral  and  religious,  sanitary 
improvement  is  a  work  of  paramount  necessity.  'There  is,'  says  the  Edin- 
burg  Review,  (vol.  xci.  1850,)  'a  most  fatal  connection  between  physical  un- 
cleanliness  and  moral  pollution.  The  condition  of  a  population  becomes  inva- 
riably assimilated  to  that  of  their  habitations.  The  indirect  effects  of  sickness 
are  far  more  hurtful,  though  less  observable,  than  the  direct  effects  of  moral 
disease ;  it  lowers  in  tone,  unstrings  the  nerves,  and  brings  on  physical  languor 
and  mental  apathy.'  But  beyond  the  physical,  the  mental,  and  the  economi- 
ical  losses  resulting  from  prevailing  ill-health,  there  are  certain  political  and 
social  aspects  of  the  same  agencies  that  ought  to  be  studied  by  every  intelligent 
citizen.  The  mobs  that  held  fearful  sway  in  our  city  during  the  memorable  out- 
break of  violence  in  the  month  of  July,  1863,  were  gathered  in  the  overcrowded 
and  neglected  quarters  of  the  city.  As  was  stated  by  a  leading  journalist  at 
that  time:  'The  high  brick  blocks  and  closely-packed  houses  where  the  mobs 
originated  seemed  to  be  literally  hives  of  sichness  and  vice.  It  was  wonderful 
to  see,  and  difficult  to  beheve,  that  so  much  misery,  disease,  and  wretchedness 
can  be  huddled  together  and  hidden  by  high  walls,  unvisited  and  unthought  of, 
so  near  our  own  abodes.  Lewd  but  pale  and  sickly  young  women,  scarcely  de- 
cent in  their  ragged  attire,  were  impudent  and  scattered  everywhere  in  the  crowd. 
But  what  numbers  of  these  poorer  classes  are  deformed !  what  numbers  are 
made  hideous  by  self-neglect  and  infirmity  !  Alas !  human  faces  look  so  hideous 
with  hope  and  self-respect  all  gone  !  And  female  forms  and  features  are  made 
so  frightful  by  sin,  squalor,  and  debasement!  To  walk  the  streets  as  we  walked 
them,  in  those  hours  of  conflagration  and  riot,  was  like  witnessing  the  day  of 
judgment,  with  every  wicked' thing  revealed,  every  sin  and  sorrow  blazingly 
glared  upon,  every  hidden  abomination  laid  before  helFs  expectant  fire. 

" '  The  elements  of  popular  discord  are  gathered  in  those  wretchedly -constructed 
tenant-houses,  where  poverty,  disease,  and  crime  find  an  abode.  Here  disease 
in  its  most  loathsome  forms  propagates  itself  Unholy  passions  rule  in  the  do- 
mestic circle.  Every  thing,  within  and  without,  tends  to  physical  and  moral 
degradation.' 

"  The  Association  can  not  close  this  introduction  without  expressing  its  grate- 
ful estimation  of  the  arduous  and  self-denying  labors  of  the  medical  gentlemen, 


14 


the  fruit  of  whose  researches  is  embodied  in  this  report,  (See  Appendix.)  An 
investigation  so  thorough,  searching,  and  extensive,  and  directed  by  such  genius 
and  energy,  has  never  before  been  attempted  in  our  city  or  in  this  country." 
(Signed)  James  Brown, 

^=   ALEX.  T.  STEWART, 
John  Jacob  Astor,  Jr., 
Peter  Cooper, 
John  D.  Wolf, 
Wm.  E.  Dodge, 
And  fourteen  others  of  the  "Council." 

The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  the  report  of  the  Council 
of  Physicians,  as  above: 

At  the  time  the  Council  completed  its  Sanitary  Survey  of  the  city,  December, 
1864,  there  were  495,592  persons  in  this  city  residing  in  tenant-homes  and  cel- 
lars ;  the  total  number  of  tenant-homes  teas  15,309,  and  the  average  number  of 
families  to  each  of  these  homes  was  7^,  including  the  poor  families  that  take 
boarders^  Tceep  lodgers^  etc.  To  these  aggregate  numbers  the  Sanitary  Inspec- 
tors report  that  another  element  should  be  added,  viz.,  all  of  the  smaller  habita- 
tions, attics,  stable-lofts,  etc.,  where  poor  families  are  found  stowed  away,  and 
having  too  small  an  allowance  of  area  and  air-space.  The  Inspector  of  the 
Fourth  District,  (4th  Ward,)  for  example,  reports  that  in  addition  to  the  462 
tenant-houses  proper  in  his  district,  there  are  252  other  buildings  that  possess 
the  attributes  of  tenant-houses,  and  in  a  great  proportion  of  which  the  highest 
degree  of  sanitary  want  prevails.  Were  all  this  class  of  habitations  included 
with  the  tenant-houses  and  underground  residences,  it  would  be  found  that  far 
more  than  half  the  population  of  the  city  is  to-day  inhabiting  a  class  of  domiciles 
which  invite  and  localize  the  most  disabling  and  fatal  kinds  of  disease. 

That  the  rate  of  crowding  in  particular  localities,  and  even  throughout  the  en- 
tire region  occupied  by  tenant-houses  is  too  great,  is  rendered  evident  by  a  sim- 
ple estimation  of  the  facts  relating  to  the  subject.  If  we  take  into  consider- 
ation only  the  so-called  tenant-houses,  that  is,  houses  in  which  there  dwell  three 
or  more  families  who  hire  their  domiciles  by  a  monthly  rental,  it  will  be  found 
that  these  houses,  being  15,309  in  number,  have  been  built  upon  about  850 
acres  of  ground,  including  all  the  courts,  alleys,  and  areas  pertaining  to 
them,  exclusive  of  the  paved  streets  in  front  of  them.  Including  a  proper 
pro  rata  of  the  entire  area  of  the  public  streets,  the  total  superficial  area 
allotted  to  these  15,309  houses,  the  111,000  families,  and  the  480,368  persons 
that  dwell  in  them,  is  about  two  square  miles.  That  is,  the  tenant-house  pop- 
ulation is  actually  packed  upon  the  house-lots  and  streets  at  the  rate  of 
240,000  to  the  square  mile ;  and  it  is  only  because  this  rate  of  packing  is  some- 
what diminished  by  intervening  warehouses,  factories,  private  dwellings,  and 
other  classes  of  buildings,  that  the  entire  tenant-house  population  is  not 
devastated  by  the  domestic  pestilences  and  infectious  epidemics  that  arise 
from  overcrowding  and  uncleanness.  As  now  distributed,  the  tenant-houses 
of  the  city  are  nearly  all  found  within  an  area  of  less  than  four  square  miles. 
Even  this  rate  of  crowding,  including  the  other  classes  of  population,  and  other 
classes  of  buildings  that  are  interspersed,  is  so  great  as  to  have  justly  become  a 
subject  of  momentous  importance,  and  it  calls  for  a  thorough  sanitary  inquiry 
in  regard  to  existing  evils  and  impending  dangers. 

Such  concentration  and  packing  of  a  population  has  ^jrohahly  never  been 
equaled  in  any  city  as  may  be  found  in  particular  localities  in  New-York. 
In  some  entire  districts,  as  in  the  Fourth,  Sixth,  and  portions  of  the  Eleventh 
and  the  Seventeenth  Wards,  the  density  of  the  population  is  far  greater  than 
in  any  parish  or  ward  in  London  or  any  other  European  city  of  which  we  have 
definite  knowledge.  For  example,  in  the  Fourth  W ard,  the  tenant-house  and 
cellar  population,  as  distributed  throughout  the  whole  Ward,  is  all  included 


15; 


within  an  area  of  about  sixty  acres,  including  streets,  etc.  This  gives  a 
population  of  about  192,000  persons  to  the  square  mile.  And  to  this  number 
there  remains  to  be  added  that  portion  of  the  population  which  is  not  included 
in  the  tenant-house  class.  At  the  same  time  there  are  twelve  acres  of  the  same 
area  occupied  by  storehouses  and  factories.  The  results  of  our  Sanitary  Sur- 
vey in  the  Fourth  Ward  show  that  the  tenant-houses  and  tenant-house  popula- 
tion proper,  that  is,  the  class  that  averages  upward  of  seven  families  to  the  house, 
are  crowded  upon  a  space  of  less  than  thirty  acres  exclusive  of  streets,  or  less 
than  forty  acres  including  street  areas  ;  and  that  this  class,  which,  in  that  ward, 
outnumbers  17,611  persons,  is  now  packed  at  the  rate  of  about  290,000  inhab- 
itants to  the  square  mile.  In  that  ward  nothing  is  plainer  than  the  fact  that  the 
overcrowding  of  the  population  is  perilous  to  public  health. 

In  the  Sixth  Ward  the  total  population  dwelling  in  tenant-houses  and  cellars 
amounts  to  22,897,  distributed  over  an  area  scarcely  exceeding  seventy-five 
acres.  While  in  the  Eleventh  Ward  there  are  65,620  persons  living  in  tenant- 
houses  and  cellars,  and  the  rate  of  crowding  is  increasing  throughout  that  ward 
with  great  rapidity  ;  and  in  the  Seventeenth  Ward  there  is  an  aggregate  tenant- 
house  and  cellar  population  of  66,207  distributed  over  one  of  the  most  import- 
ant districts  of  the  city. 

These  facts  are  introduced  simply  to  show  the  growth  and  necessities  of  the 
poor  and  middle  class  population  in  New-York,  and  also  to  illustrate  the  prin- 
ciple and  the  consequences  of  the  remarkable  concentration  of  these  classes. 
If  we  compare  these  statements  with  the  results  of  inquiry  upon  the  same 
questions  in  the  largest  cities  and  most  densely  populated  districts  in  England, 
the  rate  of  overcrowding  in  New- York  will  become  more  apparent  by  the  con- 
trast. At  the  period  when  the  great  sanitary  reform  was  begun  in  Liverpool, 
it  was  ascertained  that  in  a  particularly  overcrowded  and  very  unhealthy  parish 
in  that  city,  the  packing  of  the  population  was  at  the  rate  of  138,224  persons 
to  the  square  mile ;  at  the  same  period  there  was  a  portion  of  the  town  of 
Manchester  that  was  populated  at  the  rate  of  100,000  to  the  square  mile  ;  and 
all  London  "metropolis"  had  50,000  to  the  square  mile.  In  a  recent  report  of 
a  royal  commission  the  following  statistics  are  given  respecting  the  most  densely 
populated  districts  of  London  : 


Districts.  Rate  of  population  to  the  square  mile. 

St.  James,   144,008 

Holborn,   148,705 

St.  Luke,   151,104 

East-London,   175,816 


From  the  facts  given  in  the  preceding  pages,  and  from  statements  embodied 
in  the  Second  Part  of  this  Report,  as  well  as  from  the  ordinary  observations 
of  reflecting  citizens,  the  truth  must  be  obvious  that  the  poorer  classes  of  the 
population  in  this  city  are  becoming  excessively  aggregated,  and  that  their  nar- 
row domiciles  are  'becoming  •perilously  overcrowded.  To  the  practical  consider- 
ation and  treatment  of  this  source  of  evil,  therefore,  citizens  and  all  philan- 
thropic persons  must  very  soon  give  special  attention.  The  sanitary  necessi- 
ties and  the  peculiar  perils,  both  public  and  domestic,  that  stand  related  to  this 
subject,  can  not  longer  be  neglected  without  seriously  jeopardizing  the  health 
and  welfare  of  the  city,  and  working  much  evil  to  the  State.  Mow  most  suc- 
cessfully to  mitigate  the  tenant-house  evils  and  the  perils  of  overcroicding,  as 
they  now  exist,  is  truly  a  momentous  question,  and  it  is  a  still  greater  problem 
how  best  to  provide  suitable  domiciles  for  the  rap  idly -increasing  population  of 
the  city.  That  the  poorer  classes  in  the  city  must,  to  a  very  great  extent,  now 
and  hereafter,  reside  in  multiple  domiciles  or  tenant-houses,  is  only  too  evident 
and  certain.  But  it  would  be  remarkably  anomalous,  in  this  age  of  progress  in 
the  practical  applications  of  science  and  art,  and  of  enterprise  and  success  in 
overcoming  the  obstacles  to  human  welfare,  if  no  remedies  were  found  adequate 
to  remedy  the  evils  we  now  both  witness  and  justly  anticipate. 

It  is  true  that  the  rate  of  crowding  of  the  population  in  particular  districts 
of  this  city  is  already  unparalleled  and  still  increasing.    It  is  true  that  the 


16 


tenant-houses  of  New-York  are  rapidly  becoming  the  nests  of  fever  infection 
and  the  poisoned  abodes  of  physical  decay.  It  is  true  that  in  the  tenant- 
house  districts  a  worse  than  Spartan  fate  awaits  all  children,  and  that  cholera 
infantum,  convulsions,  scrofula,  and  marasmus  hover  with  ghoul-like  fiendish- 
ness  about  the  dismal  and  crowded  tenant-homes  of  the  great  mass  of  infantile 
lives  in  the  city.  It  is  true  that  we  find  the  great  body  of  the  former  middle  class 
of  society  rapidly  becoming  absorbed  into  and  allied  with  the  poor  tenant- 
houses  class,  and  experiencing  the  lamentable  evils  that  surround  such  homes 
as  theirs.  It  is  true  that  the  tenant-houses  of  the  city  as  a  whole,  as  well  as 
of  particular  districts,  are  becoming  rapidly  and  perilously  aggregated  ;  and  it 
is  likewise  true  that  moral,  social,  and  political  evils  are  fearfully  augmenting 
and  ominously  threatening  in  our  city,  in  consequence  of  all  these  unfortunate 
physical  conditions.  But  is  it  not  reasonable  and  true  that  insomuch  as  the 
causes  of  all  these  evils  have  been  and  are  mainly  physical — or  at  least  always 
allied  with  material  agencies  which  are  under  human  control — in  the  same  de- 
gree, and  conversely  and  hy  redeeming  conditions  mainly  of  a  physical  nature, 
the  evils  tee  now  deprecate,  and  the  impending  perils  we  now  fear,  may  de,  and 
should  speedily  ie,  averted  and  effectually  prevented  ? 

It  will  be  seen  that  these  eminent  Physicians  style  the  awful  over- 
crowding which  they  narrate  as  "  perilous,"  "  momentous,"  "  unpar- 
alleled," and  "  increasing,  and  "  full  of  impending  perils  we  now 
fear,"  and  wonder  if,  in  this  age  of  progress  in  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  science  and  art,  no  remedies  were  found  adequate  to 
remedy  the  evils  we  now  witness  and  fear !"  The  Elevated  Railway 
is  in  all  probability  destined  to  be  the  practical  enterprise  that  they 
so  ardently  longed  for,  but  lacked  the  mechanical  genius  to  suggest. 
For  further  extracts  from  this  report  of  Doctors  Smith,  Mott,  Parker, 
and  twenty-one  others,  see  Appendix,  page  54. 

SPECIAL  REPORTS. 

Dr,  Pxdling^  the  Special  Inspector  of  the  Fourth  Ward,  hounded 
hy  Chatham^  Catharine  and  South  Streets,  Peck  Slip^  Ferry  and 
Spruce  Streets,  reports  its  average  length  and  breadth  as  respectively 
1900  and  1600  feet,  comprising  896  25X100  building  lots,  and  con- 
taining a  population,  in  1860,  of  21,994  !  After  stating  that  there  are 
770  tenement  buildings,  8  schools  and  churches,  446  liquor  stores  ! 
or  one  to  eight  families,  of  which  28  were  reputed  brothels,  and  6 
"  sailors'  dance-houses,"  he  remarks  of  these  liquor-shop  keepers, 

These  are  the  men  whose  influence,  purchased  by  corrupt  politicians,  secures 
their  election  to  the  municipal  offices  which  they  disgrace.  Holding  in  their 
grasp  the  votes  of  their  dependents,  and  by  their  combined  action  being  thus 
enabled  to  elect  whom  they  please,  their  power  is  almost  supreme.  In  the  past 
they  have  controlled  our  health  organization,  and  made  it  what  it  is.  In 
the  future  they  propose  to  perpetuate  it.  Confident  in  the  system  which 
secures  their  political  strength,  they  set  at  defiance  the  wishes  and  opinions  of 
all  who  take  an  intelligent  interest  in  the  welfare  of  our  city. 

Overcrowding,  the  source  of  the  greatest  sanitary  and  social  evils,  steadily 
increases  in  the  Fourth  District,  Within  the  last  ten  years  the  extension 
of  Bowery  and  Chambers  street  through  the  most  densely-populated  portions 
of  this  district,  has  thrown  into  thoroughfares  a  large  section  formerly  occupied 


VIEW  OF  A  FOURTH-WARD  POOR  MAN's  HOME,  SHOWING  CHILDREN'S  FLAY-GROUND 


17 


principally  by  tenant-houses.  During  the  same  period,  another  large  section 
has  been  devoted  to  business  purposes  ;  but,  although  these  combined  causes 
have  redaced  by  fully  one  third  the  inhabited  area,  yet  the  population  remains 
about  the  same  as  before.  Good  hygienic  conditions  can  not  te  obtained  until 
the  present  system  of  packing  is  broken  up  and  the  pro  rata  of  cubic  space  to 
the  individual  at  least  doubled.  The  removal  of  one  half  of  the  present  pop- 
ulation of  the  district  will  be  a  necessary  preliminary  to  any  complete  system 
of  sanitary  reform.  The  establishment  of  suitable  residences  for  the  poor.,  if 
not  accomplished  by  private  enterprise^  should  become  a  subject  of  municipal 
and  legislative  action. 

A  tract  equal  in  extent  to  Central  Parle,  occupied  by  dioellings  designed  for 
their  homes.,  which  should  possess  the  indkpensable  hygienic  conditions  of  suf- 
ficient air-space  and  light.,  good  ventilation  and  drainage.,  and  placed  under  such 
police  regulations  as  should  secure  the  exclusion  or  prompt  suppression  of  all 
nuisances,  would  be  an  inestimable  boon  to  this  class.,  and  a  greater  benefit  to 
the  entire  community  than  even  the  splendid  ornament  to  our  city  above  named. 
Simply  as  an  investment  of  funds  there  is  no  doubt  that  such  an  enterprise 
would  pay.,  but  its  benefits  could  not  be  measured  by  any  standard  of  pecu- 
niary profit.  It  would  be  the  ptroudest  work  of  which  our  imperial  city  could 
boast,  and  thousands  of  her  sons  thus  rescued  from  degradation  and  icretched- 
ness  would,  in  future  years  "  rise  up  and  call  her  blessed.'^'' 

Dr.  Pulling,  after  exploring  the  terrors  of  this  over-crowded  ward, 
within  a  stone's  throw  of  three  fourths  of  the  newspaper  offices  of 
the  city,  no  doubt  thought  that  Avhoever  would  start  a  plan  for  the 
relief  of  humanity  there  would  be  bid  "  God  speed."  The  proposed 
Elevated  Railway  is  confessedly  the  first  feasible  plan  proposed,  and 
if  Dr.  Pulling  wants  to  hear  the  "  blessings,"  let  him  read  some  of 
the  extracts  from  late  articles  in  the  public  papers  of  the  city !  But 
only  the  closing  paragraph  of  the  Doctor's  report  can  be  added  here. 
More  facts  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 

The  Doctor  proceeds  to  mention 

The  Tenant-House  Rot. — The  state  of  physical,  mental,  and  moral  decline  to 
which  I  have  adverted,  is  so  well  recognized  and  its  causes  so  well  understood, 
that  it  has  received  a  name,  less  elegant  than  expressive  ;  it  is  called  the  Ten- 
ant-House Rot. 

Under  such  influences  are  reared  to-day  a  large  proportion  of  the  future  citi- 
zens of  New  York,  who  will  control  its  social  and  political  destinies.  Under 
such  influences  have  been  reared  a  large  class,  already  so  numerous  as  at  times 
to  seriously  disturb  the  pubUc  peace  and  to  endanger  the  safety  of  our  social  and 
political  fabric. 

The  terrible  elements  of  society  we  saw  brought  to  the  surface  during  a  great 
popular  outbreak,  are  equally  in  existence  at  the  present  moment ;  nay,  more, 
they  are  increasing  year  by  year.  The  tocsin  which  next  summons  them  from 
their  dark  and  noisome  haunts  may  be  the  prelude  to  a  scene  of  universal  pil- 
lage, slaughter,  and  destruction.  We  must  reap  that  which  we  sow.  Pestilence 
and  crime  are  fungi  of  hideous  growth,  which  spring  up  side  by  side  from  such 
pollution  as  we  allow  to  rankle  in  our  midst. 

EZRA  R.  PULLING,  M.D., 
^  Sanitary  Inspector, 


18 


Out  of  29  inspection  districts  in  the  city,  the  following  are  selected 
as  representing  the  actual  condition  of  the  lower  end  of  Manhattan 
Island. 


Statistical  Eecapitulation,  First  District. 


No.  of  Squares,   64 

"  Houses, 

"  Front,   1484  ) 

"     Rear,   34  ^^^^ 

"  Tenant-Houses, 

Front,..  217  ) 
Rear,...    24  f  "^^^ 

"    Drinking  Shops,  (all  kinds,).  423 


No.  of  Brothels,   40 

Churches,   3 

Chapels,   2 

Schools,   6 

Stables, 

"     P^Wic,                  5  I  25 


Private,   20 


Statistical  Eecapi\ 


Squares......   33 

"     in  good  sanitary  condition, . .  7 

"     in  mixed     "          "        . .  7 

"     in  very  had "          "        . .  19 

Houses,   1379 

"     private,   242 

"     tenant,   607 

"     rear,   267 


ion^  Third  District. 


Stores,   445 

Liquor  shops,   261 

Meat  and  vegetable  markets,   19 

Brothels,   101 

Factories,   27 

Churches,   3 

School-houses,   4 

Stables,   80 


Statistical  Recapitulation  of  Buildings^  {5th  District.) 


1 

Front  Brick  Dwellings. 

Front    Frame  Dwell- 
ings. 

Rear  Brick  Dwellings. 

Rear  Frame  Dwellings. 

Liquor  Stores. 

Grocery  and  Liquors. 

Miscellaneous  Stores. 

Houses  of  Assignation 
and  Prostitution. 

Stables. 

Oyster   Saloons,  Fish 
and  Meat  Markets. 

Factories. 

Churches. 

Junk  Shops. 

1170 

122 

147 

64 

120 

78 

381 

108 

167 

40 

64 

6 

9 

STATISTICS  OF  SIXTH  DISTRICT. 


Whole  number 
of  buildings. 

Dwellings. 

Stables. 

Liquor  Stores. 

Brothels. 

Stores. 

Manufactories. 

Churches. 

• 

i'ui  lie  Schools. 

Dispensary. 

Arsenal. 

Asylums. 

Prison. 

Railroad  Depot. 

Parks. 

Vacant  Lota. 

1380 

182 

43 

406 

29 

528 

117 

6 

3 

1 

1 

4 

1 

1 

2 

8 

AN  KI.iHT-STORY  TENANT  HOUSK  IN  SIXTH  WARD. 
Photograph  Instrument  did  not  reach  the  ground. 


19 


TENANT-HOUSES,  BASEMENTS,  AND  CELLARS  IN  SIXTH  DISTRICT. 


Teaant-houses- 

Rear  Tenant-houses. 

Number  of  Tenements  without  Fire- 
1  escape. 

Number  of  Tenant-houses  not  connect- 
ed with  any  Sewer, 

Number  of  Tenements  in  good  Sanitary 
condition. 

NHml)er  of  Tenements  in  faulty  Sani- 
tary condition. 

Number  of  Families  in  Tenant-houses. 

Average  number  of  Families  to  each  i 
Tenant-house.  | 

Tenement  Population, 

Tenement  Population  with  less  than 
300  cubic  feet  of  air. 

Minimum  average  cubical  space  to  each 
person  in  a  house  on  Worth  Street. 

Average  age  of  Tenement  Poi)ulation, 

Cellar  Population. 

Average  cubical  space  to  Cellar  Popu- 
lation. 

609 

154 

302 

302 

24 

585 

4400 

n 

23,000 

2720 

cu»io  risT. 

122 

TIAKS. 

23 

496 

HIT. 

615 

In  Mulberry  street,  near  Chatham  Square,  is  a  "model  tenant-house" — so  called, 
but  really  a  human  packing-house — which  in  a  recent  inspection  by  the  Council  of 
Hygiene  gave  the  following  statistics  ; 


Street  and  No.  of  the  House. 

5,  7,  and  9  Mulberry,  front  and  rear. 

Character  and  surroundings 
of  the  House. 

The  old  Baptist  Church  transformed  into  a  Tenant-house. 

No.  of  Families  in  the  House. 

59. 

No,  of  Persons  in  the  House. 

313.    [With  about  400  cubic  feet  aii>space  to  each.] 

No.  of  Children  in  the  House, 
under  10  years  of  age. 

48. 

No.  of  Children  that  have  died 
during  the  last  year. 

Total  No,  of  Deaths  at  all  ages 
during  the  y^r. 

15. 

Total  No.  of  persons  now  Sick 
and  Diseased. 

78. 

The  Ratio  of  total  Sickness  in 
total  population. 

1  in  4  constantly  sick. 

The  Ratio  total  Mortality  in 
population  for  the  year. 

1  in  2bf . 

Remarks, 

Typhus  and  small-pox  have  prevailed  in  this  house  for  sev- 
eral months  past. 

Th.e  following  Table  indicates  the  comparative  growth  of  New- York ^  by  Wards.,  in  decades. 


1T90.'1800'  1810.  1814.  1820.  1835.  18S0.  1885.  1840,  1845.  1850.  1855.,lh«0. 


4,3-2" 

6.44^ 

9.14'' 
13.076 
15,394 


7,941 
8,9431 
7, 4-26 1 
10,226 
14.7441 
I1,-2S6; 
l-Al-2tl 


7,630 
7.439 
7,495 
9,856 
14,523 
11,821 
10.886 
10,702 
4.343 
10,8-24 


96,373.  95,519 


12,085 
8,214 
9,-20l 
10,73rt 
12,421 
13,30;J 
13,(KV> 
13,76t> 
11,162 


9,929 
9,315 
lO.SUl 
12,240 
15,093 
20,061 
14,19-2 
24,285 
1 0,956 
23,932 
7,344 
7,938 


11,^31 
8,203 
9,599 
12,705 
17,7-22 
13,570 
15,873 
20,7-29 
17,333 
16,4.38 
14,915 
11,808 
12,598 
14,-28« 


10,380 
7,549 
10,884 
11,439 
18,495 
14,827 
21,481 
08,570 
20,618 
20.929 
26,845 
24,437 
17,130 
17,306 


10,629 
6,394 
11,581 
15,770 
19,159 
17,189 
22,982 
29,073 
24,7H5 
29,0-26 
17.053 
11,652 
18,517 
20,235 
17,755 
2-2,7-23 
18,619 


12,-2.30 
6,962 
11,900 
21,000 
20,362 
19,343 
25,556 
30,900 
30.907 
20,993 
27,259 
13,378 
2-2, 4  U 
21,103 
19,4-2-2 
40,350 
27,147 


19,754 
6,6a5 
10,355 
23,2.50 

2- 2,686 
24,698 

3- 2,690 
34,612 
4a657 
2:},316 
43,758 
10.451 
28,246 
2.M96 
2-2,564 
52.882 
43,766 
31,546 
18,465 


1.3,486 
3, -249 
7.909 
22,895 
21,617 
2.5.5*52 
34,4-22 
34,052 
39,9-2 
26,378 
52,979 
17,6.56 
•26,597 
24.754 
24.046 
39,8-23 
69,548 
39,415 
17,666 
47,055 
27,914 
22,605 


515,547  629,810 


20 


The  following  Table  exhibits  the  domiciliary  condition  of  l!?'ew- 
York  City  on  1st  January,  1865,  verified  by  two  distinct  surveys  ; 


Statistical  Summary  of  the  Tenant-Hoiises  and  Cellars^  and  the  Distrihution 
and  Statistics  of  their  Population^  etc.,  in  the  City  of  New-Yorlc,  at  the 
close  of  the  year  1864. 


a 

.a 

ca 

nt-houses. 

ilies  in  Ter 

Families  i 

in  Tenan 

ion  in  eac 

g 

n  Cellars  an 

enant-house 

n  Unsewere 

WARDS. 

c 

S3 

o 

c 
.2 

C  o5 

a 

6  i 

% 

3 

o 

o  ^ 

'■5  3 

. 

O  ^ 

.2 

o 

a 

.2 

.2  o 

m 

% 
"3 

d 

tc  ^ 

H 

be  "3 

O 

^  o 
.a 

Pop 
uses. 

3 

o 

otal 
ant 

So 

otal 
hou 

2§ 

otal 
Ter 

otal 
wit 

otal 
Ho 

H 

< 

H 

H 



First  

250 

2,181 

8i 

8,564 

34i  + 

498 

9,062 

89 

2,606 

54 

810 

5| 

1,248 

57 

1,305 

28 

640 

486 

3,636 

17,611 

35^ -f- 

846 

17,957 

151 

4,473 

462 

2,597 

10,370 

24f  + 

886 

11,206 

298 

5,796 

605 

4,406 

22,401 

34^— 

496 

22,897 

214 

6,612 

627 

4,586 

n 

19,293 

30|. 

1,233 

20,526 

409 

10,953 

625 

8,977 

15,630 

25 -f 

1,258 

16,888 

802 

6,530 

696 

3,836 

6i 

14,955 

25tV 

217 

15,172 

208 

4,485 

534 

4,487 

9 

18,140 

34— 

458 

18,583 

110 

2,953 

2,049 

13,433 

64,254 

1,366 

65,620 

403 

10,026 

540 

3,729 

6| 

14,997 

271 

989 

15,936 

215 

5,089 

546 

4,509 

8i 

20,008 

36f 

417 

20,425 

207 

6,203 

197 

1,358 

7 

4.970 

25— 

235 

5,205 

72 

1,237 

1,257 

7,088 

5f 

31,500 

25  + 

2,150 

33,650 

300 

7,107 

Seventeenth  

1,890 

15,974 

8i 

63,766 

34f  + 

2,441 

66,207 

155 

4,596 

836 

7,267 

8| 

35,869 

426- 

230 

36,099 

98 

3,766 

571 

3,682 

^ 

16,067 

28^ 

205 

16,272 

81 

1,912 

1,162 

8,844 

n 

32,205 

271 

1,013 

83,218 

291 

7,968 

Twenty-First  .... 

1,026 

7,299 

7 

36,675 

85f— 

135 

36,870 

144 

4,491 

Twenty-Second.  . . 

996 

7,714 

31,845 

82— 

699 

82,544 

162 

8,233 

This  Table  presents?  the  Statistics  of  Tenant-Houses,  as  reported  by  the  Sanitary  In- 
spectors of  the  Council  of  Hygiene,  and  verified  in  a  recent  inspection  by  the  Metropoli- 
tan Police.  . 

The  total  number  of  tenant-houses,  none  of  which  contain  less  than  three  families, 
who  hire  their  apartments  by  monthly  or  very  brief  periods  of  rental,  is  15,511.  This 
exceeds,  by  202,  the  number  which  the  Council  of  Hygiene  as  well  as  the  Metropolitan 
Police  has  elsewhere  given. 

The  total  population  of  these  tenant-houses  at  the  time  of  last  inspection,  was  486,000 

The  total  population  in  cellars  was   15,224 

Total  in  tenant-houses  and  in  cellars  501,224 

NoTK. — The  Sanitary  Inspectors  of  the  Twelfth  Ward  report  that  there  are  202  ten- 
ant-houses of  the  larger  class  (averaging  more  than  six  families  in  a  house)  in  that  Ward. 
In  the  same  Ward  there  are  643  inhabited  shanties,  and  710  other  tenements  of  a  poor 
class,  but  not  having  three  families  each,  consequently  not  counted  in  the  statistics  of 
tenant-houses. 


21 


Drs.  Mott,  Parker,  Delafield,  Smith,  Draper,  and  twenty  associate 
physicians  give  the  following  extracts  in  their  report  as  worthy  ot 
perusal ;  and  Messrs.  James  Brown,  Alexander  T.  Stewart^  Edward 
S.  JalFray,  Peter  Cooper,  J.  J.  Astor,  and  twenty  leading  citizens, 
publish  and  indorse  them  as  true. 

Remarks  of  the  Press. 

Says  a  writer  in  the  Evening  Pout :  "  The  tenant-house  has  become  one  of  the  insti- 
tutions of  this  city  ;  to  build  and  own  these  barracks  is  a  profitable  speculation,  in  which 
men  of  honorable  lives  and  kind  hearts  embark  their  means,  and  do  not  think  them- 
selves disgraced  ;  yet  we  are  told  that  the  rents  demanded  are  so  enormous  that  from 
twenty  to  thirty-five  per  cent  are  not  uncommon  returns  for  such  ventures.  Many  of 
our  readers  have  but  a  vague  notion  of  what  a  tenant-house  or  '  barracks '  is.  It  is 
commonly  a  structure  of  rough  brick,  standing  upon  a  lot  twenty-five  by  one  hundred 
feet ;  it  is  from  four  to  six  stories  high,  and  is  so  divided  internally  as  to  contain  four 
families  on  each  floor — each  family  eating,  drinking,  sleeping,  cooking,  washing,  and 
fighting  in  a  room  eight  feet  by  ten,  and  a  bed-room  six  feet  by  ten  ;  unless,  indeed — 
•which  very  frequently  happens,  says  Mr.  Halliday — the  family  renting  these  two  rooms 
takes  in  another  family  to  board,  or  sub-lets  one  room  to  one  or  even  two  other  families ! 

"  Many  houses  used  for  this  purpose  of  '  herding '  families  together  were  built  for 
other  uses  ;  more  recently,  however,  others  have  been  built  especially  for  this  use.  One 
of  the  largest  of  these  '  barracks '  has  apartments  for  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  fami- 
lies !  It  stands  on  a  lot  fifty  by  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  is  entered  at  the  sides  from 
alleys  eight  feet,  wide,  and,  by  reason  of  the  vicinity  of  another  barrack  of  equal  height, 
the  rooms  are  so  darkened  that  on  a  cloudy  day  it  is  impossible  to  read  or  sew  in  them 
without  artificial  light.  It  has  not  one  room  which  can  in  any  way  be  thoroughly  venti- 
lated. The  vaults  and  sewers  which  are  to  carry  off  the  filth  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  families  have  grated  openings  in  the  alleys,  and  door-ways  in  the  cellars,  through 
which  the  noisome  and  deadly  miasmata  penetrate  and  poison  the  dank  air  of  the  house 
and  the  courts.  The  water-closets  for  the  whole  vast  establishment  are  a  range  of  stalls 
without  doors,  and  accessible  not  only  from  the  building,  but  even  from  the  street.  Com- 
fort is  here  out  of  the  question  ;  common  decency  has  been  rendered  impossible  ;  and  the 
horrible  brutalities  of  the  passenger  ship  are  day  after  day  repeated — but  on  a  larger 
scale."  See  engraving  from  a  photographic  view  of  the  court  and  barracks  here  de- 
scribed ;  page  opposite. 

Lamentations  of  the  Clergy. 

The  philanthropic  and  thoughtful  Rector  of  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  Rev.  Dr.  Muhlen- 
berg, whose  life  and  teachings  present  an  instructive  example  of  successful  effort  for  im- 
proving the  welfare  of  the  poor  and  suffering  classes  in  New- York,  in  a  recent  appeal  on 
behalf  of  the  moral  interests  of  those  classes,  says  :  "  Look  at  those  quarters  of  your 
city  where  the  people  herd  by  fifties  and  by  hundreds  in  a  house,  street  after  street.  Look 
at  them  huddled  together  in  narrow  rooms,  with  surroundings  and  effluvia  where  a  half- 
hour's  stay  would  sicken  you.  See  places  which  might  rather  be  stalls  or  sties  than  hu- 
man abodes.  Look  at  the  swarms  of  children  in  the  streets,  on  the  stoops,  at  the  windows, 
half-naked  or  in  unwashed  rags.  See  the  crowds  of  rough,  half-grown  boys  in  knots  at 
the  corners,  quick  at  all  sorts  of  wickedness,  loud  in  foulness  and  blasphemy,  the  ready 
and  the  worst  element  of  your  riots.  Mark  the  looks  and  the  talk  of  the  populace  of 
the  dram-shops,  and  then  the  exhibition  of  godlessness,  drunkenness,  and  licentiousness 
on  the  Lord's  day,  turning  it,  I  had  almost  said,  into  Satan's  day.  And  why  do  I  ask 
you  to  look  at  such  a  revolting  state  of  things  among  those  thousands  of  your  neigh- 
bors ?  In  the  hope  that  aught  which  you  or  I  can  do  will  better  it  ?  To  propose  any 
scheme  for  its  material  improvement  ?  Alas,  no.  The  evil  is  too  gigantic  for  any  grasp 
of  reform  at  all  conceivable.  It  calls  for  legislative  interference  ;  and  that,  could  any 
prcLcticahle  mode  of  melioration  be  shoicn^  would  call  for  more  public  virtue  than  exists. 
This  massing  of  human  beings,  prolific  of  those  vices  and  miseries,  is  profitable  to  too 
many  pockets.  The  exorbitant  rents  of  the  smallest  dens  or  of  the  larger  tenements 
swell  the  gains  of  landlords,  who  have  the  plea  for  any  amount  of  rapacity  that  they  only 
meet  a  demand." 

How  rejoiced  will  Dr.  Muhlenberg  and  all  clergymen  be  to  know 
that  the  "  scheme  for  material  improvement,"  which  he  declares  his 


22 


inability  to  propose  in  so  pathetic  terms,  is  at  last  devised  theoreti- 
cally in  the  Elevated  Railway.  The  inventor  proposes  what  the 
merchants,  the  physicians,  and  clergy  could  not.  Shall  it  be  tried  ? 
For  further  interesting  facts  on  the  subject  the  reader  is  referred  to 
the  Appendix. 

The  terrible  evils  depicted  in  the  preceding  pages  can  he  success- 
fully and  permane7itly  ameliorated  by  improved  railway  transpor- 
tation^ and  not  othericise. 

It  is  demonstrated  with  geographical  and  business  reason  why 
working  men  engaged  in  New- York  business  can  not  live  olF  from  the 
island,  and  that  their  available  living  quarters  are  very  limited  be- 
tween Broadway  and  the  East  and  North  Rivers  ;  that  the  same  are 
being  annually  and  inevitably  narrowed  by  the  encroachments  of 
stores  and  warehouses,  extending  northward  from  the  docks  and 
cross  business  streets,  and  eastward  and  westward  from  Broadway 
and  finally  that  their  escape  is  cut  off  by  the  belt  of  high-priced  land 
where  the  rich  reside,  extending  across  the  island  from  Fourteenth 
street  to  Central  Park. 

With  these  premises,  the  following  conclusion  is  inevitable  :  The 
crowding  of  the  iDorking  men'^s  quarters  can  only  be  relieved  by  quick 
and  cheap  transit  from  their  loorkshops^  through  the  belt  of  high- 
priced  land,  to  new  localities  on  the  n&t^thern  end  of  the  island,  or 
to  the  convenient  adjacent  localities  on  the  main  land,  or  contiguous 
points  on  Long  Island.  Drs.  Mott,  Draper,  Parker,  and  their  asso- 
ciates intimate  that  this  is  the  only  solution  of  the  difficulty,  and  no 
intelligent  reader  or  observer  can  doubt  it. 

There  is  vacant  available,  low-priced  land  enough  on  the  upper 
part  of  the  island,  at  Harlem,  Yorkville,  and  across  the  narrow  Har- 
lem Creek  or  River,  in  Morrisania,  to  accommodate  all  the  working 
men  below  Fourteenth  street,  and  let  them  live  in  single  houses  not 
over  two  stories  high  for  the  next  century.  There  are  plenty  of 
land-owners  who  would  be  glad  to  build  the  houses  and  rent  them 
to  the  working  men  ;  so  cheaply  that  the  saving  in  rent  icould  pay 
their  railway  fare  the  year  round  ! 

Why  is  this  vacant  land  not  occupied,  but  consuming  its  owners 
with  taxes,  while  thousands  are  pining  to  make  it  a  fortune  to  the 
owners  and  a  blessing  to  themselves  ? 

The  answer  is — 

Because  the  mea?is  of  transit  is  too  slow,  too  crcyioded,  and  too  un- 
certain between  the  upper  and  lower  ends  of  the  island,  and  no  me- 
chanic who  has  to  work  ten  hours  a  day  can  trust  o?*  afford  it. 

Every  body  knows  that  the  only  inland  way  to  get  to  Harlem  is  by 
the  horse-cars.  The  fare  is  cheap  enough — five  to  seven  cents.  People 
would  often  like  to  pay  more  for  better  accommodation,  but  it  is  ar- 


23 


bitrarily  fixed  by  law.  The  time  made  by  these  cars,  under  favor- 
able circumstances,  is  from  four  to  five  miles  an  hour.  At  the  hours 
in  the  day  when  passengers  flow  like  a  tide  to  and  from  business 
localities,  they  are  crowded  ;  so  that  a  car  which  seats  twenty-two 
people,  sometimes  has  fifty  or  sixty  crammed  into  it  or  clinging  to 
the  platforms.  In  such  case  no  one  is  sure  of  a  seat,  but  may  be 
obliged  to  stand  up  in  a  painful  position  the  entire  distance,  if  able 
to  get  on  to  the  car  at  all.  Then  he  stands  the  chance  of  being  next 
to  a  pickpocket,  and  be  relieved  of  his  wallet  with  his  hard  earnings, 
of  which  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  is  estimated  as  stolen  on  the 
Third  and  Fourth  Avenue  cars  alone  annually.  But  in  the  revolving 
seasons,  winter  comes,  and  there  is  a  heavy  snow-storm,  and  four 
reeking  horses  fail  to  haul  one  car  at  the  rate  of  two  miles  an  hour, 
if  at  all.  Then  the  clerk,  mechanic,  or  other  employe  may  have  to 
walk,  and  lose  an  hour,  and  be  discharged  for  want  of  promptness  at 
bis  place  of  business.  It  is  self-evident  that  the  fatigue,  the  risk,  the 
loss  of  time  thus  involved  can  be  sustained  but  by  wealthy  employ- 
ers or  persons  not  regularly  emjjloyed,  and  the  masses  are  cut  ofl". 
Thus  the  dense  population  and  the  crying  evils  of  the  lower  wards  is 
mainly  owing  to  the  want  of  better  transit  more  than  to  any  other 
single  cause.    For  farther  details  see  Appendix. 


LAWS  AND  LEGAL  OPINIONS. 

LEGISLATIVE  AUTHORITY. 
An  Act  supplementary  to  the  Act  entitled  "An  Act  to  authorize  the  formation 

OF  RAILROAD  CORPORATIONS,  AND  TO  REGULATE  THE  SAME,"    PASSED  APRIL  2d,  1850. 

Passed  April  20,  1866. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  Neva- York ^  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly^  do  enact 
as  follows  : 

Sec.  1.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  any  number  of  persons,  not  less  than  ten,  to  form 
themselves  into  a  company,  for  constructing,  maintaining,  and  operating  a  railway  for 
public  use,  in  the  conveyance  of  persons  and  property,  by  means  of  a  propelling  rope  or 
cable  attached  to  a  stationary  power ;  and  upon  compliance  with  the  provisions  of  the 
first  three  sections  of  the  act  to  which  this  is  supplementary,  they  shall  become  a  body 
corporate  and  politic,  according  to  the  provisions  of  said  act;  provided,  that  the  direct- 
ors of  any  such  company  may  be  limited  to  any  number  not  less  than  five,  and  to  be  spe- 
cified in  the  articles  of  association. 

§  2.  Any  such  company  may  style  itself  by  the  name  of  the  inventor  or  patentee 
of  the  particular  method  of  propulsion  used,  together  with  such  local  designation  as  the 
associates  may  deem  desirable ;  and  shall,  by  such  name  set  forth  in  their  articles  of 
association,  have  and  enjoy  all  the  powers  and  privileges,  and  be  subject  to  the  liabilities 
mentioned  in  the  aforesaid  act,  passed  April  2d,  1850,  so  far  as  the  same  are  comprised 
in  the  first  twenty-six  sections  and  the  twenty-eighth  section  thereof. 

§  3.  Companies  formed  under  the  provisions  of  this  supplementary  act  may  fix  and 
collect  rates  of  fare  on  their  respective  roads,  not  exceeding  five  cents  for  each  mile, 
or  any  fraction  of  a  mile,  for  each  passenger,  and  "with  right  to  a  minimum  fare  of  ten 
cents. 

§  4.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  any  company  formed  under  this  act  to  construct  and  ope- 
rate and  maintain  a  road  or  roads  in  any  other  State  or  country  in  "which  the  same  does 


24 


not  conflict  with  the' laws  of  such  State  or  country;  provided  the  assent  of  the  invent- 
ors or  patentees  are  first  obtained  in  the  same  manner  and  extent  as  would  be  necessary 
within  the  United  States. 

§  5.    .    ,     .    ( Provides  for  extending  existing  charter  of  all  Railroad  Companies.) 

§  6.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immmediately. 

The  following  are  the  most  important  provisions  of  the  first  26 

and  28th  sections  reenacted  for  such  railways  by  the  above  law. 

§  28.  Every  corporation  formed  under  this  act  shall,  in  addition  to  the  powers  con- 
ferred on  corporations  in  the  third  title  of  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  the  first  part  of 
the  Revised  Statutes,  have  power — 

1.  To  cause  such  examination  and  surveys  for  its  proposed  railroad  to  be  made,  as 
may  be  necessary  to  the  selection  of  the  most  advantageous  route  ;  and  for  such  pur- 
pose, by  its  officers  or  agents  and  servants,  to  enter  upon  the  lands  or  waters  of  any 
person,  but  subject  to  responsibility  for  all  damages  which  shall  be  done  thereto. 

2.  To  take  and  hold  such  voluntary  grants  of  real  estate  and  other  property  as  shall 
be  made  to  it,  to  aid  in  the  construction,  maintenance,  and  accommodation  of  its  rail- 
road ;  but  the  real  estate  received  by  voluntary  grant  shall  be  held  and  used  for  the 
purposes  of  such  grant  only. 

3.  To  purchase,  hold,  and  use  all  such  real  estate  and  other  property  as  may  be  neces- 
sary for  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  its  railroad,  and  the  stations  and  other 
accommodations  necessary  to  accomplish  the  objects  of  its  incorporation. 

4.  To  lay  out  its  road  not  exceeding  six  rods  in  width,  and  to  construct  the  same ; 
and  for  the  purposes  of  cuttings  and  embankments,  to  take  as  much  more  land  as  may 
be  necessary  for  the  proper  construction  and  security  of  the  road,  and  to  cut  down  any 
standing  trees  that  may  be  in  danger  of  falling  on  the  road,  making  compensation 
therefor  as  provided  in  this  act  for  lands  taken  for  the  use  of  the  company. 

5.  To  comtruct  their  road  across,  along,  or  upon  any  stream  of  water,  water-course^ 
street,  highway,  plank-road,  ticrnpike  or  canal  which  the  route  of  this  road  shall  inter- 
sect or  touch  ;  but  the  company  shall  restore  the  stream  or  water-course,  street,  highway, 
plank-road  and  turnpike  thus  intersected  or  touched,  to  its  former  state,  or  to  such 
state  as  not  unnecessarily  to  have  impaired  its  usefulness.  Every  company  formed  under 
this  act  shall  be  subject  to  the  power  vested  in  the  canal  commissioners  by  the  seven- 
teenth section  of  chapter  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  of  the  session  laws  of  eigliteen 
hundred  and  thirty-four.  Nothing  in  this  act  contained  shall  be  construed  to  authorize 
the  erection  of  any  bridge,  or  any  other  obstructions  across,  in,  or  over  any  stream  or 
lake  navigated  by  steam  or  sail-boats,  at  the  place  where  any  bridge  or  other  obstruc- 
tion may  be  proposed  to  be  placed ;  7ior  to  authorize  the  construction  of  any  railroad  not 
already  located  in,  upon^  or  across  any  streets  in  any  city,  without  the  consent  of  the  cor- 
poration of  such  city. 

7.  To  take  and  convey  persons  and  property  on  their  railroad  by  the  power  or  force 
of  steam  or  of  animals,  or  by  any  mechanical  power,  and  to  receive  compensation  therefor. 

8.  To  erect  and  maintain  all  necessary  and  convenient  buildings,  stations,  fixtures,  and 
machinery  for  the  accommodation  and  use  of  their  passengers,  freights,  and  business. 

9.  To  regulate  the  time  and  manner  in  which  passengers  and  property  shall  be  trans- 
ported, and  the  compensation  to  be  paid  therefor;  but  such  compensation,  for  any  pas- 
senger and  his  ordinary  baggage,  shall  not  exceed  three  cents  per  mile. 

10.  From  time  to  time  to  borrow  such  sums  of  money  as  may  be  necessary  for  com- 
pleting and  finishing  or  operating  their  railroad,  and  to  issue  and  dispose  of  their  bonds 
for  any  amount  so  borrowed,  and  to  mortgage  their  corporate  property  and  franchises 
to  secure  the  payment  of  any  debt  contracted  by  the  company  for  the  purposes  afore- 
said ;  and  the  directors  of  the  company  may  confer  on  any  holder  of  any  bond  issued 
for  money  borrowed  as  aforesaid,  the  right  to  convert  the  principal  due  or  owing  there- 
on, into  stock  of  said  company,  at  any  time  not  exceeding  ten  years  from  the  date  of 
the  bond,  under  such  regulations  as  the  directors  may  see  fit  to  adopt. 

LEGAL  OPINIONS. 

The  legal  effect  of  the  law  was  examined  by  Hon.  J.  S.  Bosworth, 
one  of  the  Police  Commissioners  of  New-York,  and  ex-Judge  of  the 

Superior  Court,  and  extracts  are  as  follows : 

-rs  11       A  XX  X  o  New- York,  May  1866. 

E.  C.  Delavan,  Esq.,  Attorney,  etc. — Dear  Sir  :  ' 

I  have  considered  the  questions  upon  which  my  opinion  is  sought  in  respect  to  the 

right  of  a  corporation  created  under  the  act  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New- 


25 


York,  passed  April  20th,  1866,  "  An  Act  Supplementary  to  the  Act  entitled  *  An  Act  to 
authorize  the  formation  of  Railroad  Corporations,  and  to  regulate  the  same,  passed 
April  2d,  1850."' 

(Session  Laws  of  1850,  p.  211.) 

Railroad  companies  formed  under  and  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  Chapter 
140,  of  the  Laws  of  1850,  may  construct  their  roads  "  upon  or  across  any  streets  in  any 
city,"  upon  obtaining  the  assent  of  the  corporation  of  such  city,  lawfully  given.  Laws 
of  1850,  p.  211  and  p.  294,  sec.  28,  sub.  5. 

When  that  act  was  passed,  the  common  councils  of  cities  had  no  restraints  upon 
their  giving  this  assent,  if,  in  the  exercise  of  their  discretion,  they  deemed  the  contem- 
plated road  worthy  of  their  assent ;  and  if  $he  assent  was  given  in  a  mode  that  con- 
formed to  every  thing  essential  to  a  valid  act  on  the  part  of  that  body,  ihe  right  of  the 
railroad  company  to  comtruct  the  road  iipoii  or  across  any  street  embraced  within  the  as- 
sent given,  must  be  perfect. 

The  Act  of  April  4th,  1854,  (Chap.  141,)  imposes  a  limitation  upon  the  previously 
imrestricted  discretion  of  the  common  council  of  a  city  to  permit  a  railroad  to  be  con- 
structed in  any  of  the  streets  of  such  a  city.  But  this  limitation  upon  the  exercise  of  its 
discretion,  or  upon  its  absolute  capacity  to  give  a  legal  and  valid  assent  or  permit,  applies 
only  to  a  road  which  commences  and  ends  in  said  city. 

The  Act  of  January  10th,  18G0,  (Chap.  10,)  enacts  that 

1.  It  shall  not  be  lawful  hereafter  to  lay,  construct,  or  operate  any  railroad  in, 
upon,  or  along  any  or  either  of  the  streets  or  avenues  of  the  city  of  New-York,  wherever 
such  railroad  may  commence  or  end,  except  under  the  authority  and  subject  to  the  reg- 
ulations and  restrictions  which  the  Legislature  may  hereafter  grant  or  provide. 

"  §  2.  All  acts  and  parts  of  acts  inconsistent  with  this  act  are  hereby  abolished." 

The  Legislature,  in  the  Act  of  April  20th,  18G6,  in  the  second  section  thereof,  ex- 
pressly declares  and  enacts  that  the  company  which  that  act  authorizes  to  be  formed 
shall  have  and  enjoy  all  the  powers  and  privileges,  and  be  subject  to  the  liabilities  men- 
tioned in  the  aforesaid  Act  of  April  2d,  1850,  "  so  far  as  the  same  are  comprised  in  the 
first  twenty-six,  and  the  twenty-eighth  sections  thereof,"  which  confer  in  the  most 
unqualified  manner  the  power  to  lay  and  operate  a  railroad  along  the  streets  of  any  city 
in  the  State,  without  any  exception  whatever,  upon  obtaining  the  "  assent  of  the  corpora- 
tion of  such  city." 

It  was  because  they  conferred  such  power  that  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  1860  was 
necessary,  in  order  to  take  away  such  power  from  any  company  organized  under  the 
Act  of  April  2d,  1850,  without  special  act  of  the  Legislature. 

The  Act  of  April  20th,  18G6,  grants  to  the  company  which  it  authorizes  to  be 
formed  that  power  as  fully  and  also  as  lately  as  the  Act  of  April  2d,  1850,  conferred  it 
upon  the  companies  formed  under  and  according  to  the  last-mentioned  Act. 

The  authority  thus  conferred  by  the  Act  of  April  20th,  1866,  is  granted  by  the  Legis- 
lature itself  It  is  competent  to  grant  such  authority,  and  it  seems  to  me  to  be  a  ne- 
cessary conclusion  that  the  companies  authorized  by  the  Act  of  April  20th,  1866,  when 
duly  formed,  may  construct  and  operate  their  road  as  and  where  any  companies  organ- 
ized under  the  Act  of  April  2d,  1850,  might  have  constructed  a  road. 

It  is  proposed  to  construct  the  contemplated  railroad  (if  my  information  in  regard 
thereto  be  correct)  so  that  the  railroad  when  built,  will  not  come  within  the  mischief 
contemplated  by  sec.  25,  sub.  5,  of  the  Act  of  April  2d,  1850,  or  the  Act  of  1860, 
Chap.  3,  provided  a  road  should  be  laid  and  operated  without  the  previous  assent  of  the 
corporation  of  a  city  which  it  might  enter  or  traverse.  It  is  not  proposed  to  lay  this 
railroad  track  in  or  upon  or  along  the  surface  of  any  street  or  avenue.  If  so,  it  will 
not,  when  finished  and  in  operation,  interfere  in  any  manner  with  the  passage  of  car- 
riages or  other  vehicles,  or  with  foot-passengers  in  or  upon  the  streets.  It  does  not, 
therefore,  come  literally  within  the  provisions  requiring  the  assent  of  the  city  corpo- 
ration, or  within  the  prohibition  contained  in  Chap.  10  of  the  Laws  of  1860.  It  may  be 
within  the  spirit  of  them,  and  the  assent  of  the  corporation  of  the  city  should  be  ob- 
tained, and  it  is  desirable  that  the  grant  of  such  assent  should  receive  the  votes  of  two 
thirds  of  the  Common  Council,  Very  respectfully  yours, 

J.  S.  BOSWORTH. 

The  above  opinion  fully  concurred  in. 

Ex-Judge]     L.  B.  WOODRUFF, 
Ex-Judge]    EDWARDS  PIERREPONT. 

It  is  difficult  to  select  three  judges  wliose  opinions  will  be  more 
confidently  relied  on  as  sound  and  impartial,  by  the  citizens  of  New- 


26 


York,  or  treated  with  more  respect  by  its  Bar,  than  those  of  Judges 
Bosworth,  Woodruff,  and  Pierrepont. 

The  impression  has  been  entertained  that  the  action  of  the  Senate 
of  the  session  ol  1866  had  taken  action  by  a  resolution  conflicting 
with  the  law  passed  for  authorizing  the  Patent  Railways,  but  ex- 
amination does  not  reveal  any  grounds  for  such  conclusion.  The 
resolution  as  passed  by  the  Senate,  is  as  follows : 

 The  Senate  of  the  State  of  New-York,  on  the  twentieth  of  April  last, 

adopted  the  following  resolution  : 

Resolved^  That  a  select  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  sit  during  the  recess,  with 
the  Mayor  of  New-York,  the  State  Engineer,  and  the  Engineer  of  the  Croton  Board,  to 
ascertain  and  report  to  the  Senate  the  most  advantageous  and  proper  route  or  routes  for 
a  railway  or  railways  suited  to  the  rapid  transportation  of  passengers  from  the  upper  to 
the  lower  portion  of  the  city  of  New-York,  having  in  view  the  greatest  practical  benefit 
and  safety  to  the  public,  and  the  least  loss  and  injury  to  property  on  or  adjacent  to  said 
route  or  routes. 

It  will  be  at  once  noticed  that  the  resolution  does  not  speak  of 
plans,  but  of  routes.  They  could,  of  course,  incidentally  consider 
plans  as  adapted  to  the  routes,  but  the  location  was  evidently  the 
point  on  which  the  honorable  Senate  desired  information  particularly* 
This  evinced  sound  discretion  on  the  part  of  the  author  of  the  reso- 
lution, as  it  indicated  that  a  more  thorough  system  and  multiplicity 
of  routes  was  contemj^lated^  which  had  not  been  proposed  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  Legislature — JBroadioay  being  the  beginning  and 
the  end  of  the  speculative  plans  and  routes  heretofore  submitted  for 
improved  transit  on  Manhattan  Island. 

Legislation  Wise  and  Consistent. 

When  it  is  considered  that  the  law  of  April  20,  1866,  was 
passed  at  the  request  of  the  Patentees,  and  provides  for  the  forma- 
tion of  companies  to  operate  in  foreign  countries,  would  it  have  been 
r> roper  for  the  Legislature  to  have  enacted  that  the  city  of  New- 
York  should  use  the  plan,  nolens  volens  ?  Every  paper  in  this  city 
would  have  cried  out  against  it  and  accused  the  Legislature  of  be- 
coming a  vender  of  patent  rights  !  On  the  contrary,  the  Legisla- 
ture gave  permission  to  the  Corporation  of  New-York  City  to  assent 
to  its  introduction  if  it  chose  to,  and  one  branch  of  the  Legislature 
appointed  a  committee  to  look  out  the  routes,  where,  if  necessary, 
the  Legislature  might  hereafter,  if  the  Council  did  not  act,  authorize 
railways  which  should  accommodate  the  masses  :  as  the  Senate  might 
reasonably  infer  that  the  Broadway  route  did  not.  Thus  the  Legis- 
lature and  Senate  have  each  acted  judiciously  with  a  view  to  the 
best  interests  of  New-York  City.  So  has  the  Common  Council,  and 
their  action  would  be  indorsed  by  nine  tenths  of  the  voters  of  the 
city  at  once  if  the  question  could  be  decided  at  the  city  ballot-boxes. 


27 


THE    MECHANICAL    FEATURES    OF    THE  PROPOSED 
PATENT  WIRE-ROPE  RAILWAY. 

This  is  an  elevated  railway,  on  which  the  cars  are  propelled  by- 
wire  ropes,  attached  to  stationary  engines  placed  below  the  surface 
of  the  street.    The  advantages  of  this  plan  are — 

1st.  That  it  creates  no  new  obstructions  in  the  streets,  or  any  more 
than  now  exist  in  the  shape  of  lamp-posts  and  awning-posts  and 
frames. 

2d.  There  is  no  extraordinary  noise  connected  with  the  motion  of 
the  cars  which  would  be  noticed  over  the  usual  "  din  "  in  the  streets. 

3d.  There  is  no  oil,  cinders,  smoke,  dust,  or  fire  caused,  which 
on  all  other  elevated  railways  would  be  a  nuisance  in  the  streets. 

4th.  In  the  opinion  of  eminent  engineers,  the  safety  of  passengers 
would  be  entirely  secured  by  a  proper  construction  of  a  single  track 
over  each  curbstone  line  upon  a  single  row  of  columns,  provided  the 
track  could  be  staid  properly  against  oscillation,  which  could  be 
done  by  bracing  against  buildings  where  the  owners  would  consent, 
or  by  attachment  to  a  second  row  of  small  columns  near  the  build- 
ings, at  wide  intervals,  which  the  Council  properly  proposed  to  per- 
mit when  owners  should  refuse,  provided  no  obstruction  was  thereby 
caused  to  the  adjoining  buildings. 

5th.  Ko  damage  can  be  done  in  the  streets,  for  the  surface  is  not  to 
be  obstructed ;  or  under  the  streets,  because  the  Croton  Board  are 
vested,  under  the  resolution  of  the  Council,  with  power  to  prevent 
any  injury  to  the  public  pipes  or  sewers ;  or  to  persons,  because  the 
State  law  provides  that,  while  the  constructing  Company  "  may,  by 
its  officers,  or  agents,  or  servants,  enter  upon  the  lands  or  Avaters  of 
any  person,  but  subject  to  responsibility  for  all  damages  which  shall 
he  done  thereto,^''  (which  it  is  elsewljhere  provided  shall  be  ascertained 
by  and  paid  into  the  Supreme  Court  before  such  entry.) 

Then,  the  mechanical  reasons  why  it  should  be  at  least  tried,  are 

1st.  A  railway  with  a  similar  motiv^power  was  erected  in  London 
and  was  a  success,  and  profitably  used  for  several  years.  Cars  were 
run  on  it  at  the  rate  of  twenty  mile^  |ai  hour  Avith  entire  safety.  It 
was  discontinued  because,  being  on  the  ground,  it  was  in  the  way  ol 
other  improvements,  and  because  it  used  a  single  length  of  rope  for 
the  whole  distance  of  several  consecutive  miles.  This  same  power  is 
also  used  with  great  success  in  Pennsylvania,  and  most  of  the  Lehigh 
coal  comes  over  such  a  road  which  uses  a  rope  nearly  a  mile  long, 
and  roads  are  reported  which  use  them  two  miles  long  to  great  ad- 
vantage. But  in  the  proposed  road  in  New-York  these  lengths  could 
not  be  used,  because  the  rope  of  a  size  commensurate  with  such 
length  would  be  too  clumsy  and  noisy.    The  Patentee  of  the  new 


28 


method  comes  before  the  public  with  a  plan  by  which  short  lengths 
of  small  wire  can  be  used  for  the  same  purpose,  and  by  ingenious 
contriv^ances  made  to  drive  a  car  just  as  fast  and  safely  with  a  steel 
wire,  half  an  inch  in  diameter,  as  the  English  used  to  do  with  a 
rope  five  times  as  thick. 

2d.  The  plan  was  recommended  to  the  Council  by  the  highest 
references. 

The  first  capitalist,  so  far  as  known,  who  entertained  the  plan  as 
feasible  for  Broadway,  was  that  public-spirited  citizen,  Peter  Cooper, 
Esq.,  who  needs  no  title  to  introduce  him  to  the  public! 

He  has  recently  sent  to  the  Patentee  the  drawing  of  a  plan  for  an 
Elevated  Railway  on  Broadway  (to  be  run  by  a  wire  rope)  first  agi- 
tated in  184G-7. 

The  projector  states  in  a  circular  accompanying  it  that  he  devoted  several  years  to 
the  study  of  the  system.  To  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  plan,  an  exact  copy  with 
explanations  are  given  on  an  opposite  page.  No  one  will  accuse  the  patentee  of  copying 
the  present  plan  from  that !  Although  it  is  five  times  as  cumbersome  and  complicated 
a  structure  as  that  now  authorized  by  the  Council,  it  received  the  indorsement  of  the 
Special  Committee  of  the  Mechanics'  Institute,  who  examined  the  plans  and  working 
model,  and  say  in  their  report  (March,  1848):  "Their  doubts  of  the  practicability  of 
such  a  plan  have  been  removed.  Every  objection  which  the  ingenuity  of  your  com- 
mittee could  raise  has  been  met,  and  your  Committee  has  been  irresistibly  compelled  to 
agree  that  this  plan  furnishes  all  the  desiderata  which  the  necessities  of  Broadway  and 
the  convenience  of  our  citizens  demand,"  The  projector  proposed  to  erect  an  experi- 
mental working-section  around  the  Crystal  Palace  in  1853,  and  to  obtain  a  charter  to 
build  it  in  Broadway  and  the  Bowery.  It  is  announced  that  Wm.  B.  Astor,  Esq.,  James 
Boerman,  Esq.,  Peter  Cooper,  Esq.,  Dudley  S.  Gregory,  Esq.,  A.  St.  John,  Esq.,  and 
Professor  Mapes  are  among  those  who  subscribed  to  the  project.  This  shows  what 
the  solid  men  of  that  day  thought  of  it,  and  the  Directors  learn  that  the  experimental 
section  was  actually  erected  at  the  expense  of  the  above-named  gentlemen  and  others, 
around  the  Crystal  Palace,  and  was  destroyed  by  the  fire  which  burnt  the  Palace,  before 
it  was  ready  for  use.  The  idea  was  thus  deferred  and  has  slept  for  twenty  years  !  How 
a  small  matter  sometimes  delays  great  results ! 

For  instance,  the  application  of  steam  to  locomotive  engines  was  suggested  in  1759 
by  Dr.  Robison,  then  a  student  in  the  University  of  Glasgow,  to  James  Watt,  the  im- 
mortal inventor  of  steam  power,  and  whose  low-pressure  stationary  ehgines,  the  most 
economical  and  ingenious  of  any,  have  never  been  materially  improved  upon  from  that 
time  to  this.  Some  casual  matter  turned  Watts's  mind  off  from  the  subject,  and  the 
world  had  to  wait  seventy  years  until  George  Stephenson  built  and  tried  the  locomotive 
"Rocket"  in  1828-9. 

Xext  was  William  M.  Gillespie,  LL.D,  C.  E.,  Professor  of  Civil 
Engineering  in  Union  College^and  who,  in  his  Mamial  of  the  Prin- 
ciples and  Practice  of  Constrwcting  Roads  and  Railroads,  used  as  a 
text-book  for  colleges,  and  first  printed  in  184'7,  and  of  which  A.  S. 
Barnes  &  Co.,  of  51  John  street,  publish  in  1866  the  ninth  edition, 
on  i^age  431  says  : 

"  A  RAILROAD  WORKED  BY  A  STATIONARY  ENGINE  WOULD  BE  THE  MOST  CONVENIENT 
METHOD  OF  RELIEVING  THE  RUSH  OF  TRAVEL  THROUGH  BrOADWAY.  ThE  RAILROAD  TRACK 
SHOULD  BE   SUPPORTED  ON    IRON  COLUMNS,  OUT  OF    THE  WAY  OF  CARRIAGES,  AS    IN  THE 

FIGURE,     These  columns  might  be  placed  on  the  edges  of  the  sidewalks,  where 

NOW  ARE  the  lamp  AND  AWNING-POSTS  ;  AND  BY  EXTENDING  OVER  THE  GUTTER  THEY 
WOULD  HAVE  A  BASE  OP  THREE  FEET.  ThEIR  LOWER  EXTREMITIES  SHOULD  BE  SET  IN 
HEAVY  MASSES  OP  MASONRY.      At  TOP  THEY  SHOULD  SPREAD  OUTWARD  A  FOOT  ON  EACH 


t 


9 


29 


SIDE,  WHICH  WOULD  GITE  SUFFICIENT  WIDTH  FOR  THE  RAILROAD  TRACK.  ThE  COLUMNS 
SHOULD  BE  SET  AT    DISTANCES    OF    FIFTEEN    OR    TWENTY  FEET,  AND    CONNECTED    BY  FLAT 

ARCHES.  There  would  be  no  flooring  over  the  street,  and  the  rails  would  in- 
tercept NO  more  light  than  do  the  boards  which  now  connect  the  awning- 
posts.  Xo  locomotives,  or  even  horses,  would  pass  over  the  road  ;  BUT  AN  end- 
less rope  WOULD  continually  RUN  OYER  PULLEYS,  AND  LIGHT  CARS  WOULD  BE  UNDER 
THE  MOST  PERFECT  CONTROL,  AND  COULD  BE  ATTACHED  TO  IT,  OR  DISENGAGED,  AT  WILL, 
AND  STOPPED  MORE  EASILY  THAN  AN  ORDINARY  OMNIBUS.  At  THE  UPPER  END  OF  BROAD- 
WAY, A  STATIONARY  ENGINE,  OR  THE  WATER  POWER  OF  THE  CrOTON,  WOULD  EASILY 
AND  CHEAPLY  KEEP  UP  THE  CIRCULATION,  WHICH  WOULD  PASS  UP  ONE  SIDE  OF  THE 
STREET  AND  DOWN  THE  OTHER.  At  EACH  CORNER  MIGHT  BE  A  PLATFORM,  TO  WHICH 
THERE  WOULD  BE  A  SHORT  FLIGHT  OF  STEPS  FROM  THE  SIDEWALK,  THE  ASCENT  OF  WHICH 
WOCLD  BE  VERY  EASY  ;  OR  A  CERTAIN  NUMBER  OF  CORNER  HOUSES  MIGHT  BE  USED  AS 
DEPOTS,  SO  THAT  PASSENGERS  MIGHT  STEP  INTO  THE  CARS  FROM  THEIR  SECOND  STORY 
WINDOWS.  A  RAILROAD  ON  THE  SURFACE  OF  THE  GROUND,  WITH  ITS  CONTINUAL  STREAM 
OF  CARS  STOPPING  UP  THE  CROSS  STREETS  EVERY  MINUTE,  WOULD  CREATE  A  WORSE  EVIL 
THAN  THAT  IT  WAS  INTENDED  TO  REMEDY,  AND  AN  ENDLESS  ROPE  COULD  NOT  BE  APPLIED 
TO  IT.  If  a  railroad  were  made  THROUGH  A  SECONDARY  STREET,  PASSENGERS  WOCLD 
NOT  GENERALLY  LEAVE  BrOADWAY  TO  AVAIL  THEMSELVES  OF  IT.  A  SURFACE  RAILROAD 
BEING  THUS  OUT  OF  THE  QUESTION,  TWO  ALTERNATIVES  REMAIN.  ThE  UNDERGROUND 
ONE  WILL  FIND  FEW  ADVOCATES  ;    AND  THE  ONLY  FEASIBLE  ARRANGEMENT    SEEMS  TO  BE 

THE  Column  and  Endless  chain  system." 

Here  the  Common  Council  has  the  sanction  of  the  liighest  Col- 
legiate talent  in  this  country  that  their  plan  is  the  only  feasible  ar- 
rangement. Comparing  the  sectional  view  of  Gillespie's  plan  of  the 
supporting  columns  with  that  authorized  by  the  Council,  the  reader 
will  see  that  the  latter  is  an  improvement.    (See  engraving.) 

PLAN"  APPROVED  BY  EXGINEERS. 
But  the  Council  had  also  before  them  the  original  recommenda- 
tions of  well-known  and  distinguished  Engineers,  which  were  written 
for  exhibition  to  the  Legislative  Committees  prior  to  the  passage  of 
the  desired  law  relating  to  such  railways,  as  follows  : 

For  Railroad  Committee  of  the  Senate  of  the  \  Albany,  March,  1866. 

State  of  Xew-York.  j 
Having  examined  drawings  and  models  of  an  elevated  railway  on  which  the  cars  are 
to  be  propelled  by  means  of  a  cable  or  wire  rope  attached  to  a  stationary  engine,  we  are 
impressed  with  the  novelty  and  practicability  of  the  method  proposed,  and  think  it  wor- 
thy of  a  suitable  enabling  act  from  the  Legislature,  to  permit  the  formation  of  compa- 
nies to  use  it,  and  also  of  the  attention  of  capitalists  in  reference  to  the  actual  construc- 
tion of  the  same.  I.  P.  Goodsell,  State  Engineer  of  New-York. 

"William  B,  Taylor,  Ex-State  Engineer  of  New-York. 

Am  AS  A  Stone,  Jr.,  President  C.  and  E.  R.  R.* 

Erastus  Corning. 

To  the  above  was  also  attached  the  following  : 

Office  Croton  Aqueduct,  New- York,  ) 
March  9,  1866.  \ 
I  have  examined  a  model  (as  above  referred  to)  shown  to  me  by  the  Patentee,  and 
think  his  arrangement  much  superior  to  any  other  plan  I  have  seen,  on  inclined  planes 
and  other  localities  where  stationary  power  is  used.  A.  W.  €raven, 

Chief-Engineer  Croton  Aqueduct. 

The  Legislature  considered  the  foregoing  indorsements  so  satisfac- 
tory and  influential,  that  it  almost  unanimously  passed  the  law  which 
they  recommended,  and  authorized  such  roads  in  any  city  in  the  State. 

*  Mr.  stone  is  the  Directing  Constructor  of  the  Union  Depot  at  Cleveland,  the  largest  and  most 
admirable  building  of  the  kind  in  this  country. 


30 


jRival  Plans. 

Owing  to  the  present  laws  of  the  State  of  iSTew-York,  the  Legis- 
lature is  the  only  competent  authority  for  permitting  the  construct- 
ing of  any  railways  in  the  city  of  New- York. 

Every  new  horse-railway  is  authorized  by  enactment  of  State  laws. 
Hence,  all  plans  proposed  for  improved  transit  in  the  city  are,  more 
or  less,  prominently  urged  before  the  House  and  Senate  Comniittees 
at  Albany. 

On  reference  to  the  acts  and  records  of  the  Legislature  the  follow- 
ing are  found  to  have  attracted  most  attention  : 
1st.  The  Underground,  Broadway. 
2d.  The  Surface,  Broadway. 
3d.  The  Midblock,  Broadway. 
4th.  The  Locomotive,  Broadway,  Elevated. 

These  might  all  be  disposed  of  summarily,  by  objecting  that  they 
are  intended  solely  for  Broadway  ;  and  if  they  are  located  there, 
tcould  not  relieve  the  loorking  class  to  an  extent  worth  mentioning. 

Broadway  is  looked  upon  as  the  only  main  street  not  occupied  with 
horse  railway-tracks,  the  travel  upon  which  is  immense  ;  and  almost 
any  plan  would  pay  as  between  the  Battery  and  Union  Square,  which 
would  not  be  thought  of  on  a  side  street,  or  for  the  length  of  the  is- 
land. The  "  tenement-house  rot"  would  not  be  sensibly  affected  by 
any  of  these  ;  but  it  will  doubtless  be  well  to  consider  their  merits 
more  at  length.  ^ 

PROPOSED    UNDERGROUND  RAILWAY. 

1st.  The  Underground  is  suggested  by  the  success  of  the  famous 
London  road.  But  there  are  reasons  why  they  are  not  parallel 
cases.  The  London  road  was  built  through  clay  or  alluvial,  And 
above  tide-water,  so  far  as  appears  from  reports  ;  but  then  cost  in 
cheap  times  in  gold^  $1,670,340  per  mile  !  The  ISTew-York  Under- 
ground would  have  to  go  below  tide-water  in  the  vicinity  of  Canal 
street,  where  the  engineer  says  in  his  report  of  the  survey  :  "  Some 
piling  will  be  required  to  give  proper  foundations."  If  added  to 
this  startling  engineering  fact  are  also  added  three  more,  first,  that 
the  brick  tunnel  (thirty  feet  wide,  twenty  feet  high)  must  be  water- 
tight under  a  tCn-foot  head  or  perpendicular  pressure  ;  second,  that 
the  level  of  Broadway  carriage-track  must  be  raised  to  prevent  too 
steep  grades  in  the  tunnel ;  and  third,  that  one  seventh  of  the  entire 
necessary  excavation  is  rock,  (toward  Central  Park ;)  the  reader  will 
begin  to  comprehend  what  sort  of  a  job  the  underground  railway 
(so  flippantly  discussed  in  the  papers)  is  !    With  the  London  *'  Un- 


31 


derground  "  as  a  basis  of  calculation,  the  New-York  route  might  be 
estimated  at  double  cost,  $3,340,680  per  mile,  and  then  add  the  pre- 
mium of  gold  to  correspond  with  our  currency. 

When  it  is  all  done,  the  citizens  will  then  have  its  use  only  be- 
tween the  Battery  and  the  lower  end  of  the  Central  Park,  with 
branches  to  the  Hudson  and  Harlem  Railroad  Depots.  But  when 
this  scheme  was  only  staid  from  enactment  by  the  Governor's  veto  ; 
and  in  reconsidering  the  matter  the  Legislature  sent  to  Mr.  Craven, 
the  distinguished  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct,  for  far- 
ther information,  then  difficulties  loomed  up,  which  so  affected  the 
question,  that  the  Senate  rejected  the  plan  altogether  at  its  last  ses- 
sion. The  fact  was  eliminated  that  the  main  city  water-pipes  and 
sewers  were  laid  just  where  the  Underground  projectors  wanted  to 
go,  and  in  their  estimates,  $250,000  is  allowed  for  their  removal. 
But,  says  Mr.  Craven,  in  his  able  report  to  the  Legislature  on  the 
subject : 

"  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  chief  supply  of  water  for  the  whole  city  is  drawn 
from  the  large  main  pipes  through  Fifth  Avenue  and  Broadway,  directly  on  the  site  of 
the  proposed  (underground)  railway.  From  these  main  pipes  the  water  is  distributed 
east  and  west  to  the  city  limits.  At  whatever  point  the  work  on  the  railway  should  be 
in  operation,  it  would  at  once  involve  the  necessity  of  the  removal  of  these  main  pipes. 

*'  During  the  time  taken  for  this  removal  and  reconnecting  the  numerous  lateral 
branches,  the  inhabitants  of  the  intersecting  streets  would  be  cut  off  from  water  entirely^ 
while  the  rest  of  the  city  from  river  to  river  south  of  the  point  of  work  would  be  de- 
pendent solely  on  the  utterly  inadequate  supply  coming  through  the  cross  mains  

That  the  municipal  government,  which  has  guaranteed  to  consumers  the  use  of  this 
water,  would  be  obliged  to  make  good  the  losses  growing  out  of  the  interruption,  seems 
probable. 

"  To  form  an  idea  of  the  expense  which  must  ultimately  fall  on  the  city  for  damages 
would  be  impossible,  until  the  numberless  suits  which  would  be  instituted  were  finally 
settled.  When  more  than  half  a  million  of  people  are  all  injuriously  affected,  and  that 
in  different  degrees  of  damage,  the  last  verdict  on  the  last  suit  would  have  to  be  rendered 
before  the  total  sum  of  liabilities  could  be  known." 

Mr.  Craven  might  have  added,  (but  as  he  does  not,  the  reader  can,) 
that  the  lower  part  of  the  city  would,  without  water,  be  burnt  up 
before  that  time,  and  thus  a  clean  case  could  be  made  out  for  the  jury  ! 

The  New-York  Herald^  in  an  able  and  exhaustive  editorial,  of  Jan- 
uary 25th,  18C6,  after  giving  that  and  all  the  plans  in  extenso  then 
before  the  Legislature,  thus  ridicules  it : 

"Say  these  capitalists,  spend  five  or  six  millions  in  this  preposterous  scheme!  So 
much  the  better.  It  will  thus  be  drawn  from  their  plethoric  coffers  and  distributed 
among  the  community !  The  employment  for  laborers  will  be  immense.  Labor  will  be 
in  demand,  and  it  will  be  kept  here.  Say  a  few  buildings  crack  their  sides,  as  if  shaken 
by  an  earthquake,  and  tumble  down  !  So  be  it.  These  capitalists  can  pay  the  damage, 
and  the  greater  the  destruction,  the  more  employment  for  our  masons,  carpenters, 
laborers,  etc.  Suppose  the  miasma  arising  from  the  vent-holes  necessarily  opened  dur- 
ing the  excavation  of  this  tunnel  breed  a  pestilence ;  still,  alas  !  so  much  the  better  for 
our  physicians,  who  can  not  find  sufficient  employment  with  five  hundred  deaths  ■weekly 
on  the  City  Inspector's  record  as  evidence  of  the  sanitary  condition  of  our  city  !  So  go 
ahead,  underground  railroad  directors  !  Bring  out  your  dollars,  spend  them  liberally, 
and  if  you  do  smash  up,  you  are  better  able  to  stand  a  crash  than  others  who  have  less 
money,  but  perhaps  more  judgment ! 

"  Seriously,  we  are  in  favor  of  the  relief  of  Broadway  whenever  a  proper  plan  is  sug- 


82 


gested.  We  heave  none  of  our  own,  hut  we  believe  thai  m  the  end  the  real  relief  of  the 
thoroughfare  will  be  found  in  an  overground  {elevated)  railroad^  or  in  two  broad  avenues 
constructed  on  either  side  of  the  great  highway." 

Thus  speaks  the  most  eminent  Engineer  and  the  leading  commer- 
cial newspaper  of  New-York  City  on  tlie  only  rival  plan  which  has 
yet  been  j^resented  with  force  and  reason  enough  to  x>(^ss  the  Legisla- 
ture, but  failed  (as  it  should)  in  the  Executive  Chamber.  The  others 
do  not  deserve  and  Avill  not  receive  so  extended  a  notice. 

rEOPOSED  BROADWAY  SURFACE  RAILWAY. 

2d.  The  Surface  Railway  project  proposes  to  add  to  the  jam  on 
Broadway,  by  mixing  in  a  few  hundred  cars  !  Unless  omnibuses  are 
excluded,  (and  to  this  the  ladies,  at  least,  will  object,)  the  cars  can 
not  make  two  miles  an  hour  in  time,  and  the  only  parties  benefited 
wall  be  the  stock  operators. 

THE   MIDBLOCK  RAILROAD  PLAN,  ETC. 

3d.  The  "  Midblock  "  scheme  is  to  buy  the  right  of  way  through 
the  blocks  of  buildings  on  both  sides  of  Broadway,  and  have  a  loco- 
motive railroad  with  trains  running  through  the  middle  of  the 
blocks  of  stores  fronting  on  Broadway. 

It  is  difficult  to  treat  this  project  seriously,  because  no  authentic 
surveys,  maps,  or  estimates  have,  so  far  as  the  compiler  has  been  ad- 
vised, ever  been  made  public.  The  land  damages  would  alone  pro- 
bably exceed  the  entire  cost  of  the  Underground.  Who  will  furnish 
the  money  ?  Fifty  years  would  not  be  too  long  a  time  to  enable  its 
founders,  if  any  there  be,  to  answer  that  question  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  public.  Such  a  Bill  was  introduced  into  the  Legislature  at 
its  last  session,  and  was  suspected  and  accused  by  the  public  news- 
papers of  covering  an  authority  to  lay  more  horse  railways  on  cross 
and  other  streets.  The  following  mention  in  the  New-York  Times 
of  April  11,  1866,  shows  how  it  was  disposed  of: 

"  In  the  House,  this  morning,  the  bill  to  authorize  the  construction  of  certain  railroads 
between  South  Ferry  and  Fifty-ninth  street  came  up  on  its  third  reading.  New-Yorkers 
will  recollect  that  this  is  a  project  to  allow  a  corporation  to  purchase  the  buildings  on 
certain  streets  to  build  an  elevated,  a  surface,  and  an  underground  railroad.  The  upper 
stories  of  the  buildings  are  to  be  used  for  storage  of  merchandise  and  produce,  the  bill 
giving  the  corporation  the  powers  of  warehousemen.  * 

"  Mr.  Curtis,  of  New- York,  moved  to  recommit  the  bill  to  the  Committee  of  the 
Whole,  and  appealed  to  the  House  to  prevent  the  '  double  damnation  of  such  legis- 
lation.' 

"  The  question  was  taken  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Curtis,  and  it  was  carried  by  a  vote  of 
54  to  28.    This  is  in  effect  killing  the  bill." 

ELEVATED  RAILWAYS,  WITH  LOCOMOTIVES. 

4th.  The  Locomotive  Elevated  Railway  project  has  been  presented 
in  various  forms  of  construction,  but  it  is  generally  conceded  that 


83 


such  a  road  can  only  be  made  practicable  or  safe  by  being  placed 
upon  metal  girders  which  shall  reach  across  the  street  and  be  sus- 
tained upon  a  row  of  pillars  along  each  curbstone  line,  with  several 
tracks  over  the  street. 

Such  a  plan  appears  in  Frmik  Leslie's  Fictorial^  March  3d,  1866, 
in  a  large-sized  drawing.  There  are  several  reasons  why  such  a  road 
will  never  be  tolerated  or  built.  It  spoils  the  appearance  of  any 
street.  Its  noise  would  drive  vehicles  off  from  it  entirely.  In  a  word, 
it  would  ruin  the  property  on  any  street  where  it  was  permitted.  Va- 
riations of  this  scheme,  by  which  no  girders  across  the  streets  are 
proposed,  are  unsafe,  and  a  satisfactory  rate  of  speed  could  not  be 
attained  without  a  sense  of  danger  to  all  persons  in  or  near  the 
streets.  Without  a  weighty  "  locomotive  "  or  dummy,"  the  fric- 
tion to  start  and  stop  cars  can  not  be  obtained.  Hence  speculations 
on  this  plan,  like  those  on  perpetual  motion,  are  simply  a  waste  of 
time. 

Thus  all  prominent  rival  plans  have  been  considered,  and  lest  the 
conclusions  arrived  at,  that  they  are,  for  the  present,  impracticable 
or  improbable^  may  be  considered  special  pleading  by  a  prejudiced 
party,  let  the  "Polytechnic  Branch  of  the  American  Institute" 
speak.  This  respectable  body  of  professional  engineers  and  savans 
is  reported  in  the  New-York  Tribune  as  having  held  a  meeting  at 
Room  No.  24,  Cooper  Institute,  during  the  last  session  of  the  Legis- 
lature to  consider  the  special  subject  for  the  meeting,  which  was 
*'  means  of  transit  between  different  parts  of  New- York  City."  The 
reporter  gives  the  names  of  some  prominent  engineers,  and  says  that 
others  took  part  in  the  debates,  and  after  noting  their  remarks,  adds  : 

"  When  the  hour  of  adjournment  arrived,  the  only  point  of  f^eneral  agreement  seemed 
to  be  that  some  means  of  transit  between  the  different  parts  of  this  island,  better  than 
any  which  now  exist,  are  imperatively  needed  and  must  be  had." 

This  is  the  same  as  to  say  that  they  had  seen  no  plan  at  that  time 
worthy  of  their  recommendation,  although  all  the  above  were  be- 
fore them. 

These  plans  comprise  all  at  present  proposed,  and  seem  to  offer  no 
real  claims  for  legal  authorization  in  comparison  with  the  patented 
method. 

PATENTED  RIGHTS. 

J.  Van  Santvoord,  Esq.,  who  in  1864  resigned  his  position  as  Act- 
ing Examiner  in  the  National  Patent  Office,  which  he  had  occupied 
for  the  eleven  previous  years,  was  engaged  by  the  Companies  as  their 
Consulting  Patent  Counsel,  and  in  a  written  certificate  says : 

Patent  Agency,  41  Park  Row,  Nevt-York  City,  June  6,  1866. 
Directors  N.  Y.  Patent  Railway  Cos.  :  At  your  request  I  went  to  the  Patent 
Office  at  Washington  last  week  and  searched  for  patents  prior  to  Harvey's,  and  those 

3 


84 


now  controlled  by  you,  but  I  did  not  find  any  patent  conflicting  or  interfering  with 
them.  I  have  also  examined  the  British  Patents,  down  to  the  end  of  the  indices,  and 
do  not  find  any  thing  that  conflicts  or  interferes  with  his  invention.  I  found  in  the 
course  of  my  examination  that  comparatively  few  inventions,  and  these  very  crude, 
have  been  patented  either  in  this  country  or  in  Great  Britain  which  relate  to  moving 
cars  or  vehicles  by  chains  or  cables. 

I  have  examined,  critically,  the  patent  of  May,  1866,  and  those  granted  in  1864  and 
1865,  and  I  find  that  the  said  patents,  six  in  number,  comprise  thirty  (30)  distinct 
claims,  most  of  which  are  for  independent  features,  the  balance  of  such  claims  being  for 
combinations.  And  further,  that  the  pending  (or  allowed)  application  contains  ten  (10) 
new  and  distinct  claims  for  novel  and  important  features,  and  that  the  caveat  filed  in 
April,  1866,  embraced  thirteen  (13)  additional  claims  or  features,  making  the  whole 
number  of  claims  about  fifty. 

I  am  of  opinion  that  your  invention  is  fully  and  adequately  protected  and  covered,  so 
that  you  can  restrain  persons  from  using  the  same. 

I  have  given  a  good  deal  of  study  and  reflection  to  the  invention  and  system  of  loco- 
motion contained  and  embodied  in  these  several  patents  and  cases,  and  I  can  not  con- 
ceive how  the  claims  can  be  successfully  evaded,  nor  how  any  mechanical  substitutes 
can  be  found  therefor.  Very  respectfully  yours, 

J.  Van  Santvoord. 

This  looks  like  a  strong  Patent  case,  and  that  the  protegee  of  the 
U.  S.  Patent  Office  have  a  "veto"  power  also  in  this  matter. 

This  is  a  case  where  the  Legislature  and  Corporation  of  New-York 
find  another  authority  necessary,  and  in  view  of  which  the  present 
law  was  eminently  judicious.  The  United  States  Government  can 
step  in  to  the  triangle  on  the  petition  of  the  Patentee,  which  it  has 
bound  itself  to  protect,  and  forbid  either  the  State  or  the  City  from 
using  the  particular  method  of  propulsion  proposed  until  the  com- 
panies w4io  control  the  patented  rights  to  the  routes  in  question  con- 
sent thereto.    This  is  an  important  element  to  the  subject. 

THE  ARCHITECTURAL  APPEARANCE. 

Perhaps  in  no  one  particular  does  the  superiority  of  the  Patented 
Plan  show  more  plainly  over  all  others  than  in  considering  its  ap- 
pearance when  erected.  On  such  an  important  street  as  Broadway, 
of  course,  no  expense  should  be  spared  to  make  it  correspond  in  ap. 
pearance  with  the  magnificent  buildings  in  front  of  wOiich  it  may 
stand.  The  Patentee  has  convinced  the  Directors  that  a  line  of  the 
proposed  railway  can  be  erected  ichich  will  add  to  the  perspective 
beauty  of  Broadway  itself  He  proposes  to  substitute  the  columns 
of  the  structure  for  the  present  lamp-posts,  and  do  away  with  the 
latter  altogether  along  the  line.  By  introducing  the  gas-pipes  into 
the  hollow  columns,  and  having  branching  pendants  for  the  gas- 
lights, Avith  reflectors  upon  the  frames  above,  the  light  would  be  in- 
tensified upon  the  pavement,  and  the  whole  street  at  night  would 
present  a  superb  appearance,  unrivaled  in  any  city  in  the  world. 
By  bronzing  the  iron  work  and  using  ornamental  brackets  and  iron 
filagree  work,  the  whole  structure  would  not  offend  the  most  fasti- 
dious taste.  To  show  how  little  room  it  is  necessary  to  occupy,  the 
engraving  on  the  opposite  page  is  referred  to. 


35 


The  pavement  in  front  of  Mr.  Stewart's  store,  between  Chambers 
and  Reade  street,  on  Broadway,  is  over  150  feet  long  by  ISj  feet 
wide,  making  about  2800  square  feet.  Of  this  the  Common  Council 
would  allow  one  half  per  cent  to  be  taken  up  by  7  columns  15 
inches  in  diameter  near  curb-stone,  and  3  columns  12  inches  in  diam- 
eter near  buildings. 

But  the  construction  would  be  undertaken  viith  only  7  posts  of  9 
inches  diameter,  if  staid  against  the  building  properly,  in  which 
case  less  than  one  fifth  of  one  per  cent  of  the  surface  will  be  used ! 

If  a  person  were  to  stand  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  he 
would  find  less  than  one  fiftieth  of  the  building  hid  from  view.  If 
he  should  stand  under  the  railway  he  would  find  not  quite  one  fif- 
teenth of  the  sidewalk  shaded  by  the  structure. 

With  these  facts,  it  seems  impossible  to  found  an  assertion  that 
the  proposed  railway  will  obstruct  the  streets ;  and  if  it  can  be  made 
ornamental  withal,  all  possible  objections  would  seem  to  be  obviated, 
and  the  enterprise  ought  to  go  on,  if  proved  a  mechanical  success, 
which  is  thus  the  only  real  question  to  decide,  and  which  the  pro- 
posed tests  would  fully,  fairly,  and  finally  do. 

MEMORIAL  SENT  TO  C03IM0X  COUNCIL. 

On  the  24th  day  of  July,  1866,  the  following  Memorial  was  ad- 
dressed to  the  Common  Council,  and  sent  so  in  duplicate  to  each 
branch,  and  was  appropriately  referred  to  committees  by  both 
boards  the  same  day. 

To  the  Ron.  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  2^eiD  -Yorlc  : 

The  undersigned  Memorialists,  being  citizens  of  and  property-holders  in  the 
city  of  Ne\v-York,  respectfully  beg  leave  to  represent  that  they  are  impressed 
with  the  belief  that  the  greatest  public  want  of  the  city  is  a  new  method  of 
transit  between  points  on  Manhattan  Island  and  the  northern  suburban  vil- 
lages, and  which  shall  aflford  more  capacity  and  rapidity  than  is  presented  by 
existing  roads. 

The  present  meagre  facilities  weigh  heavily  on  all  classes  of  the  community. 
Our  business  men  average  a  loss  of  at  least  one  tenth  of  their  business  hours 
daih^  from  the  slow  locomotion  now  only  obtained  between  their  residences 
and  business  localities. 

From  the  same  cause  our  mechanics  and  laboring  men,  in  order  to  reach  their 
places  of  occupation  at  commencement  ol  working  hours,  are  obliged  to  place 
their  families  in  tenement-houses,  in  the  lower  wards  of  the  city,  until  the  den- 
sity of  population  is  a  disgrace  to  our  city,  and  the  source  of  incalculable  mor- 
tality and  discomfort  to  great  numbers  of  our  industrious  and  worthy  inhabit- 
ants. 

If  the  unoccupied  upper  portion  of  our  city  could  be  made  accessible  by 
quick  and  cheap  locomotion,  vast  numbers  of  citizens  would  remove  there,  and 
obtain  desirable  homes,  and  an  impetus  would  be  given  to  building  upon  the 
large  territory  now  but  sparsely  settled,  to  the  mutual  benefit  of  landlord  and 
tenant. 

Your  Memorialists,  while  heretofore  realizing  these  facts  and  their  import- 


86 


ance,  have  felt  constrained  to  oppose  the  various  projects  for  underground  and 
elevated  locomotive  railways,  as  impracticable  or  unjust  to  public  or  private 
interests. 

The  first  would  obstruct  our  streets  for  j-ears  in  construction,  if  seriously 
attempted. 

The  second  would  injure  our  streets  in  appearance,  and  become  a  nuisance 
in  attempting  to  have  locomotive  power  applied  as  proposed. 

The  attention  of  your  Memorialists  has  lately  been  called  to  a  patented  system 
of  elevated  railway  which,  in  the  opinion  of  eminent  engineers  w^hom  the 
undersigned  have  consulted,  offers  a  solution  of  this  difficulty,  and  is  not  liable 
to  most  of  the  objections  urged  against  other  plans  previously  made  public. 

No  locomotives  are  used  on  the  proposed  railway,  as  the  motive-power  is  con- 
fined to  a  series  of  noiseless,  endless,  propelling  wire-ropes,  which  is  driven  by 
engines  made  stationary  beneath  the  street  pavements,  consequently  neither 
smoke,  cinders,  oil,  or  noise  can  be  offensive  to  the  ordinary  uses  of  the  public 
streets. 

The  structure  will  project  less  than  thirty  inches  over  the  sidewalk,  or  like- 
wise over  the  carriage-way,  and  will  occupy  less  than  fifteen  inches  in  diameter, 
or  its  equivalent,  once  in  not  less  than  twenty  feet  of  length,  which  actually  is 
no  more  obstruction  than  is  now  common  along  our  streets. 

The  speed  and  capacity  of  the  proposed  railway  is  superior  to  any  of  the 
projects  heretofore  agitated,  if  it  should  prove  a  mechanical  success,  as  engi- 
neers almost  unanimously  predict  will  be  the  case. 

Your  Memorialists  have  investigated  the* patents,  and  find  that  experts  con- 
sider them  as  valid,  and  comprehending  the  principles  necessary  to  the  operat- 
ing of  a  street  railway  by  such  means. 

Competent  legal  authorities  have  also  been  consulted,  and  report  that  the 
Legislature  has  granted  full  authority  for  the  construction  of  railways  upon  this 
system,  (and  this  only  as  to  new  routes,)  in  the  city  of  New- York,  by  act  of 
April  20,  1866,  to  which  your  attention  is  respectfully  invited,  and  in  accord- 
ance with  which  the  undersigned  propose  to  obtain  corporate  existence,  and  to 
receive  your  legal  permission  for  prosecuting  the  contemplated  enterprise. 

Your  Memorialists  have  negotiated  with  the  patentee,  and  have  obtained  the 
control  of  the  patents  on  the  principal  routes  of  this  city,  provided  the  same 
can  be  brought  immediately  into  use. 

They  now  propose  to  erect  an  experimental  section  upon  Greenwich  street, 
of  one  half  mile  in  length,  which  shall  be  made  the  means  of  judging  of  the 
value  of  the  system,  and  which  will  satisfy  your  Honorable  Body,  the  public, 
and  themselves,  on  that  point,  and  finally  decide  all  questions  of  the  expedi- 
ency of  its  extension  or  its  removal. 

If  it  does  not  answer  the  purpose,  it  will  be  for  the  interest  of  your  memo- 
rialists to  abandon  the  project,  and  remove  the  trial -line  at  their  own  expense. 

But  if  it  does  supply  the  want  now  becoming  an  absolute  necessity  in  our 
city,  then  every  resident  on  this  island  will  feel  interested  in  its  extension  as 
rapidly  as  possible. 

Your  Memorialists  are  willing  to  take  the  risks  of  failure  and  loss  on  the 
trial,  for  the  right  to  proceed  in  its  extension  without  delay,  in  case  of  success, 
which  is  submitted  to  your  Honorable  Body  and  to  the  public  as  a  reasonable 
and  just  consideration  for  making  the  experiment,  and  assuming  the  risks  inci- 
dent thereto. 

During  the  recent  session  of  the  Legislature  an  atterapfwas  made  to  grant 
the  right  of  laying  a  railway  upon  Broadway,  to  a  body  of  corporators  of  over 
one  hundred  in  number,  mainly  residing  outside  of  the  city,  and  many  of  them 
in  remote  portions  of  this  State,  the  personal  or  local  influence  of  the  corpo- 
rators with  legislators  being  counted  on  to  secure  a  grant  of  the  proposed  fran- 
chise. 

This  measure  was  defeated  only  by  the  energetic  remonstrance  and  efforts 
of  some  of  the  undersigned,  and  other  real  estate  owners  in  this  city. 

Such  attempts  will  be  renewed,  and  it  is  in  view  of  their  possible  success 
that  your  Memorialists  ask  you  to  place  this  subject  as  far  as  practicable  within 


37 


the  control  of  the  citizens  of  this  city,  whose  property  is  affected  by,  and  whose 
interests  are  involved  in,  having  the  means  of  transit  raade  as  ornamental,  as 
capacious,  as  safe,  as  cheap,  and  as  rapid  as  possible. 

Your  Memorialists  beg  leave  to  add,  that  they  are  wilHng  that  a  reasonable 
percentage  of  receipts  of  proposed  railways  shall  go  into  the  city  treasury,  to 
increase  as  the  present  national  and  State  taxes  are  reduced,  and  to  aid  in  light- 
ening the  burdens  of  our  city  taxations. 

Your  Memorialists  also  beg  leave  to  state  that  they  desire  your  Honorable 
Body  to  pass  a  resolution  which  shall  protect  the  interests  of  the  city  in  an  ex- 
plicit manner  as  to  the  occupancy  of  the  streets  by  such  railway,  but  at  the 
same  time  leave  the  constructors  at  liberty  to  modify  and  improve  the  plans 
and  mode  of  construction,  and  operating  as  experience  shall  be  gained  and  im- 
provements suggested  by  practical  operation  of  the  experimental  section  pro- 
posed. 

No  expense  will  be  spared  in  rendering  it  effective  in  and  ornamental  to  the 
city. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  farther  State  legislation  may  be  needed  to  perfect  the 
mode  of  acquiring  property  for  such  enterprises  and  otherwise  developing  their 
usefulness,  your  Memorialists  will  suggest  the  importance  of  obtaining  your  early 
consent  to  the  trial  section  proposed,  that  the  same  may  be  put  into  operation  by 
the  time  when  the  next  Legislature  will  assemble,  and  afford  practical  proof  to 
the  committee  which  the  Honorable  Senate  has  appointed  to  especially  consider 
this  subject  in  its  relations  to  our  city,  and  to  report  at  the  next  ensuing  session 
of  the  Legislature,  which  will  convene  in  less  than  six  months  from  this  date. 
Respectfully  submitted. 

JOHN  P.  YELVERTON,  W.  H.  APPLETON, 

TURNER  BROTHERS,  W.  S.  GURNEE, 

CHAUNCEY  VIBBARD,  S.  M.  PETTINGILL, 

FREDERICK  B.  FISK,  JOHN  H.  HALL, 

JOHN  B.  MURRAY,  ALANSON  TRASK, 

WILLIAM  W.  W.  WOOD,  ISAAC  SCOTT, 

MOSES  A.  HOPPOCK,  STEPHEN  CUTTER, 

JOHN  PERKINS,  D.  CRAWFORD,  Jr., 
EDWIN  BOOTH,                             ^    F.  T.  JAMES, 

A.  D.  AVILLIAMS,  F.  WORK, 

CHARLES  D.  BIGELOW,  GEORGE  L.  TRASK, 

DEWITT  CLINTON  JONES,  H.  F.  LOMBARD, 
H.  F.  SPAULDING. 

The  Committees  held  the  same  until  the  31st  day  of  July,  when 
they  made  the  following  report : 


[official.] 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  COmiON  COUNCIL. 

STATED  SESSION. 

Tuesday,  July  31,  1866,  ) 
2  o'clock  P.M.  f 
The  Board  met,  pursuant  to  adjournment,  in  their  Chamber,  No.  16  City 
Hall. 

Present — J.  Wilson  Green,  Esq.,  President,  in  the  chair,  and  the  following 
members : 

Councilmen  Keenan,  Long,  Flynn,  Stacom,  Robinson,  O'Brien,  Kenney, 
Hartman,  Brinkman,  Koster,  Watts,  Keech,  White,  Mackay,  Tyng,  Thomas 
Halloran,  Roberts,  Pullman,  Hettrick,  and  Imlay — 22. 

The  minutes  of  meeting,  held  July  26,  were  read  and  approved. 


38 


REPORTS. 

The  Committee  on  Railroads  of  the  Board  of  CouBcilmen,  to  whom  was  re- 
ferred the  memorial  of  J.  P.  Yelverton,  Turner  Brothers,  W.  H.  Appleton,  and 
others,  praying  for  permission  to  erect  an  experimental  section  of  a  patented 
Elevated  Railway  on  Greenwich  Street,  with  conditional  privileges  of  extending 
the  same,  beg  leave  to 

REPORT. 

That  they  have  had  the  same  under  consideration ;  have  examined  the  plans 
and  models  and  patents  referred  to  ;  have  prepared  appropriate  resolutions  to 
carry  into  effect  the  request  of  the  memorialists,  and  at  the  same  time  protect 
the  interests  of  the  city. 

Your  Committee  recommend  immediate  and  favorable  action  by  this  Coun- 
cil for  the  following  reasons : 

1st.  The  memorialists  who  propose  to  try  the  experiment  are  all,  or  nearly 
all  citizens  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  some  of  them  property  owners  upon 
Broadway  and  other  streets  named,  and  will  take  a  local  pride  and  interest  in 
the  success  of  the  experiment,  different  from  those  named  in  legislative 
charters,  selected  possibly  because  of  personal  interests  of,  or  relations  to,  the 
the  individual  legislators,  (and  not  on  account  of  local  affinities,)  which  is  a 
principle  against  which  this  Council  has  often  protested. 

2d.  The  resolutions  proposed  by  your  Committee  bind  the  project,  if  suc- 
cessful, to  pay  into  the  City  Treasury  five  per  cent  of  its  gross  earnings,  (less 
certain  extraordinary  existing  and  exceptional  taxes,)  and  thus  establish  the 
principle  that  such  roads  should  assist  in  paying  taxes  caused  by  expenses 
incurred  in  protecting  their  property  in  common  with  all  others,  in  the  city 
from  which  their  income  is  derived. 

3d.  The  resolutions  restrict  the  space  to  be  occupied  on  the  surface  of  the 
streets  or  sidewalks  to  an  average  of  fifteen  inches  diameter  in  twenty  feet, 
near  the  curbstone,  and  to  twelve  inches  diameter  next  to  buildings  once  in 
forty  feet,  except  at  street-crossings,  or  where  staircases  are  at  intervals  of 
one  fourth  mile,  to  be  erected  under  the  inspection  of  the  Street  Commissioner. 
The  horizontal  surface  to  be  covered  by  the  structure,  at  the  altitude  of  not 
less  than  fourteen  feet  above  the  level  of  the  street,  is  also  restricted  to  three 
square  feet  to  each  foot  in  length,  except  at  stations,  stairways  and  turnouts, 
when  platforms  can  be  used. 

The  track,  of  course,  will  be  more  than  three  feet  wide,  but  as  it  is  to  be 
left  more  or  less  open  between  the  rails,  the  average  horizontal  surface  occu- 
pied will  be  less  than  the  maximum  named  ;  hence  no  building  will  be  injured 
by  being  shaded  by  the  proposed  structure  when  erected,  as  thus  restricted. 
Within  these  limits  the  interests  of  the  city  are  doubtless  sufficiently  protected, 
and  the  constructors  can  be  safely  left  to  choose  their  own  plans  of  construc- 
tion in  accordance  with  such  specifications. 

4th.  The  means  of  propulsion  will  be  ropes  of  wire,  or  other  material, 
attached  to  engines  placed  below  the  streets,  and  by  ingenious  patented 
devices,  the  conductor  within  the  car  can  stop  or  move  the  same  at 
pleasure.  Your  Committee  inspected  the  patents  covering  the  invention, 
and  a  certificate  from  an  ex-examiner  of  patents,  expressing  the  opinion 
that  they  covered  all  available  methods  of  making  that  form  of  propulsion 
practicably  successful.  Also,  the  written  opinion  of  the  State  Engineer 
of  New- York,  the  Engineer  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct  Department,  and 
others  of  the  most  reputable  engineers  in  this  country,*  expressing  a 
favorable  opinion  of  the  invention  and  of  its  being  worthy  of  a  trial.  By 
this  plan  all  unusual  noise,  dust,  cinders,  smoke,  and  use  of  oil  in  the 
streets  are  avoided,  and  the  safety  of  the  passengers  increased,  over  any 
other  plan  hitherto  made  public.  In  fact  there  seem  to  be  less  valid  ob- 
jections to  this  plan  than  to  any  other  ever  proposed. 

5th.  The  memorialists  propose  to  erect  an  experimental  section  of  half  a 
mile  in  Greenwich  street,  subject  to  the  inspection  of  the  Corporation, 

*  The  United  States  General  Inspecting  Engineer  of  the  ironclad  ram  Dunderberg  being  one. 


39 


through  its  Street  Commissioner.  If  it  does  not  answer  the  desired 
purpose,  they  will  remove  it  at  their  own  expense ;  if  it  is  found  the  best 
available  plan,  then,  without  farther  legislative  action,  they  desire  per- 
mission to  erect  three  lines,  with  branches,  in  order  to  accommodate  the 
longitudinal  travel  upon  Manhattan  Island. 

No  more  reasonable  proposition  can,  in  the  opinion  of  your  Committee, 
be  expected  from  any  source,  and  it  is  due  to  the  public  that  no  delay 
shall  occur  in  making  the  proposed  experiment. 

It  is  patent  to  all  that  the  present  means  of  transit  are  overcrowded 
and  slow,  and  that  some  means  of  relief  is  anxiously  looked  for  by  the 
public. 

The  Legislature  have  already  appointed  a  Committee  to  visit  this  city, 
and  report  on  the  subject,  and  some  law  may  soon  be  expected  under  the 
legislative  authority,  ostensibly  to  remedy  the  evil,  if  this  Council  does 
not  act  in  the  mean  time. 

The  Legislature  has,  by  a  recent  enactment,  invited  the  Corporation  to 
adopt  this  style  of  road,  if  deemed  desirable,  but  has  forbidden  all  other 
systems  until  farther  laws  are  enacted  by  it. 

Under  these  circumstances,  your  Committee  unanimously  recommend  that 
the  prayer  of  the  memorialists  be  granted,  and  that  the  accompanying  reso- 
lutions be  adopted,  and  ask  to  be  discharged  from  the  further  consideration  of 
the  subject. 

GEORGE  HETTRICK, 
MILXOR  IMLAY, 
JAMES  LONG, 
ANTHONY  HARTMAN, 
A.  H.  KEECH, 

Committee  on  Railroads. 


RESOLUTIOX  OF  ASSENT. 

EesoUed,  That  permission  be  and  is  hereby  given,  and  the  assent  of  the 
Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  is  granted  to  the  West  Side  and  Yonkers 
Patent  Railway  Company,  or  its  assigns,  to  construct  an  elevated  railway, 
according  to  general  plans  and  specifications  to  be  filed  in  the  ofiice  of  the 
Street  Commissioner. 

Such  railway  shall  be  constructed  upon  a  series  of  iron  columns  placed 
along  and  adjoining  the  building  side  of  the  line  of  curbstone,  (so  called  be- 
tween the  carriage-ways  and  sidewalks  ;)  such  columns  to  be  at  least  twenty 
feet  apart,  except  as  hereinafter  mentioned,  and  supporting  a  track  at  least 
fourteen  feet  above  the  level  of  the  streets  along  which  such  railway  may  be 
constructed.  Such  columns  shall  not  exceed  a  size  equal  to  a  superficial  area 
of  a  circle  of  fifteen  inches  in  diameter  ;  and  if  the  same  are  made  in  an  eUip- 
tical  or  oblong  form,  their  breadth  shall  not  exceed  twenty  inches,  and  their 
thickness  shall  be  proportionately  reduced  at  surface  of  pavement.  For  the 
purpose  of  preventing  the  tendency  in  above-mentioned  line  of  columns  to  lat- 
eral oscillation,  similar  columns  may  be  erected  along  the  curbstone  line  of 
cross-streets,  and  connected  with  the  main  line  of  track  ;  and  the  first  connect- 
ing column  at  cross-streets  may  be  placed  at  a  distance  equal  to  the  width  of 
the  sidewalk  adjoining  the  main  line  of  columns  aforesaid,  and  columns  also  for 
the  same  purpose  be  placed  at  intervals  of  not  less  than  forty  feet  along  the  ex- 
terior line  of  sidewalks  or  street  boundaries  ;  wherever  the  consent  of  owners 
of  adjoining  buildings  is  not  tendered  to  said  company  to  the  satisfaction  of  its 
attorney  and  constructing  engineer,  for  bracing  their  track  by  awning  frames 
or  otherwise  to  the  said  buildings,  or  when  no  available  buildings  occur  for 
bracing  purposes  as  aforesaid.  Provided,  that  no  existing  door-way  or  window 
shall  be  obstructed  by  any  column  as  aforesaid,  nor  shall  such  second  row  of 
columns  next  to  building  side  of  streets  or  sidewalks  exceed  twelve  inches  in 
diameter. 

Said  main  line  of  columns  shall  support  a  line  of  single  railway  track  not 


40 


more  than  fifty-six  and  a  half  inches  wide,  and  the  frame-work  of  which  shall 
not  occupy  an  aggregate  solid  horizontal  surface  space  of  more  than  three  solid 
superficial  square  feet  to  each  foot  in  length,  except  at  stations  or  stairways  or 
turnouts,  where  covered  platforms  may  be  used. 

Said  Company  may  construct  such  line  of  railway,  with  a  single  track,  on 
each  side  of  Greenwich  street,  commencing  at  Battery  place,  and  extending 
thence  through  and  along  Greenwich  street  to  its  intersection  M^ith  Ninth 
avenue,  or  along  streets  or  avenues  connecting  with  said  Ninth  avenue,  by  the 
most  eligible  route  in  the  opinion  of  the  constructor's  engineer,  to  and  across 
the  Harlem  river,  on  its  route  to  the  village  of  Yonkers,  in  the  county  of  West- 
chester ;  including  also  the  right  to  the  said  West  Side  and  Yonkers  Patent 
Railway  Company  to  extend  branches  from  the  Greenwich  street  route  to  the 
west  side  of  Broadway  or  to  the  ferry  landing  on  North  River,  along  any  of  the 
lateral  streets  south  of  Grand  street,  under  and  with  the  following  conditions, 
to  wit : 

First.  The  said  West  Side  and  Yonkers  Patent  Railway  Company,  before  con- 
structing said  railway  along  other  sections  of  the  route  or  routes  designated, 
shall  erect  a  section  of  one  half  mile  in  length,  beginning  at  Battery  Place  and 
extending  northwardly  along  Greenwich  street,  within  six  months  from  the 
passage  of  this  resolution,  and  the  period  of  any  delay  occasioned  by  causes 
which  said  company  could  not  prevent  or  control,  to  be  added  to  said  six 
months  ;  and  when  said  half  mile  of  railway  shall  have  been  completed  and  put 
in  operation,  if  the  Street  Commissioner  shall  not  within  ten  days  thereafter 
report  to  this  Common  Council  that  passengers  can  not  be  transported  thereon 
safely  at  an  average  rate  of  at  least  six  miles  an  hour,  or  that  a  greater  surface 
on  the  pavement  is  occupied  by  the  columns  of  the  structure  than  is  equal  to 
a  circle  of  fifteen  inches  in  diameter,  once  in  each  twenty  feet  in  length  of  the 
curbstone  line,  or  a  circle  of  twelve  inches  in  diameter,  or  its  equivalent  space 
at  face  of  sidewalk,  once  in  forty  feet  in  length  of  the  outer  line  of  sidewalk, 
next  to  buildings,  except  at  street  crossings,  or  at  stairways  located  at  intervals 
of  one  fourth  mile,  as  near  as  may  be,  and  to  be  approved  by  him,  then  said 
company  may  proceed  to  erect  and  complete  said  elevated  railway  upon  and 
along  the  residue  of  the  route  first  above  designated  ;  but  if  said  Commissioner 
shall  report  as  above  set  forth,  and  the  facts  shall  warrant  such  reports,  then 
the  said  erection  of  railway  of  one  half  mile  in  length  shall  be  removed  at  the 
expense  of  said  company  within  thirty  days  after  such  report  shall  be  approved 
by  the  Common  Council. 

Second.  That  upon  the  completion  of  said  railway,  and  entering  upon  the 
use  of  the  same,  or  any  part  thereof,  said  company  shall  execute  and  deliver  to 
the  Comptroller  of  the  city  their  bond  in  the  penal  sum  of  five  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  conditioned  that  they  and  their  successors  and  assigns  shall  pay 
into  the  City  Treasury,  quarterly,  five  per  cent  of  the  gross  earnings  of  said 
railway  on  the  said  routes,  as  far  as  they  are  within  the  city  limits,  less  such 
sum  as  shall  be  levied  upon  the  same  earnings  or  profits  therefrom  by  State  or 
National,  City  or  County  authority ;  and  the  Street  Commissioner  is  hereby 
authorized  and  directed  to  remove  any  obstruction  which  may  exist,  and  the 
constructing  engineer  shall  designate  as  necessary  to  be  removed,  in  order  that 
said  railway  or  any  part  thereof,  may  be  constructed  as  mentioned ;  and  also 
to  permit  the  excavation  of  vaults  under  the  streets  or  sidewalks  for  the  recep- 
tion of  the  propelling  machinery  and  engine,  with  appurtenances  and  fuel,  or 
the  construction  of  foundations  for  piers  for  the  support  of  iron  columns,  or  for 
piers  or  lines,  and  in  spaces  aforesaid ;  and  said  Commissioner  shall  require 
that  such  streets  and  sidewalks  shall,  within  a  reasonable  time,  be  restored  to 
their  original  surface  condition,  and  shall  providd  that  no  public  pipes  or 
sewers  shall  be  disturbed  by  such  construction,  except  under  the  direction 
of  the  Croton  Aqueduct  Board,  and  also  that  such  construction  shall  commence 
at  Battery  Park,  and  continue  northwardly  continuously  to  the  northerly  limits 
of  the  city. 

Resolved,  That  permission  be  and  is  hereby  given,  and  the  assent  of  the 
Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  is  granted  to  the  Broadway  and  Yonkers 


41 


Patent  Railway  Company,  or  its  assigns,  to  construct  an  Elevated  Railway, 
similar  to  that  specified  in  the  preceding  resolution,  on  the  route  commencing 
at  Battery  Park  and  Bowling  Green ;  and  thence  upon  and  along  both  sides  of 
Broadway  to  its  intersection  with  Ninth  avenue  at  or  near  Sixty-fourth  street ; 
and  thence  along  Broadway  or  the  Bloomingdale  road,  so-called,  or  Ninth 
avenue,  or  streets  or  avenues  connecting  therewith,  to  and  across  the  Harlem 
river  towards  the  village  of  Yonkers,  in  the  county  of  Westchester ;  provided, 
that  if  said  company  shall  adopt  for  its  line  the  same  route  or  streets  or 
avenues  northwardly  from  said  Sixty-fourth  street  as  shall  be  adopted  by  the 
West  Side  and  Yonkers  Patent  Railway  Compan}^,  then  in  such  case  this  com- 
pany shall  build  a  single  track  upon  one  side  of  the  street,  and  the  former- 
named  company  a  single  track  on  the  other  side  of  same  street ;  and  the  two 
companies  shall  operate  the  same  in  conjunction,  to  the  end  that  but  a  single 
track  except  turnout  and  switches,  shall  be  erected  upon  one  and  the  same 
street.  And  provided  further,  that  the  said  railway  shall  not  be  commenced 
upon  said  last-named  route  until  the  aforesaid  trial  section  shall  have  been 
erected  and  tested  upon  Greenwich  street,  and  the  owners  thereof  shall  be  at 
liberty  to  extend  their  line  of  railway  under  the  restrictions  of  the  resolution 
authorizing  the  same;  and  provided,  also,  that  said  Broadway  and  Yonkers 
Patent  Railway  Company  shall  file  a  similar  bond  and  shall  pay  into  the  City 
I'reasury  the  same  percentage  of  earnings,  and  shall  be  entitled,  in  matters  of 
construction  and  operating,  to  the  same  privileges  granted,  and  subject  to  the 
regulations  and  liabilities  imposed  by  the  preceding  resolution  upon  the  said 
West  Side  and  Yonkers  Patent  Railway  Company. 

Besolved,  That  permission  be  and  is  hereby  given,  and  the  assent  of  the 
Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  is  granted  to  the  East  Side  and  New-Ro- 
chelle  Patent  Railway  Company,  or  its  assigns,  to  construct  an  Elevated  Rail- 
way, similar  to  that  mentioned  in  the  first  preceding  resolution  on  the  route 
commencing  on  Pearl  street,  at  or  near  the  Battery  Park ;  thence  along  and 
upon  both  sides  Pearl  street  to  New-Bowery,  and  Bowery  streets,  and  upon  and 
along  both  sides  of  the  same  to  Third  avenue,  and  upon  and  along  both  sides 
of  Third  avenue  to  and  across  Harlem  river  toward  the  village  of  New-Rochelle, 
in  the  county  of  Westchester,  including  also  the  right  to  erect  branches  with 
lines  of  track  upon  each  side  of  the  streets  or  places  hereinafter  named,  as 
follows :  From  Third  avenue  to  Broadway,  via  Astor  Place  ;  from  the  Bowery 
to  Broadway,  via  Park  Row  ;  from  the  Bowery  and  the  Third  avenue  to  the 
several  ferry  landings  on  the  East  river,  by  the  most  direct  lateral  streets ; 
from  the  line  on  Pearl  street  to  and  along  and  upon  South  and  West  streets, 
and  between  the  same,  with  privilege  of  establishing  short  branches  on  such 
docks  as  the  lessees  or  owners  shall  in  writing  request  or  permit.  The  routes 
and  branches  herein  indicated  to  be  definitely  located  and  established  by  the 
Constructing  Engineer,  who  shall  have  power  to  construct  the  same  between 
points  mentioned  by  such  streets  as  shall  appear,  upon  survey,  the  most  direct 
and  feasible,  whether  named  in  this  resolution  or  not. 

Provided,  however,  that  the  said  East  Side  and  New-Rochelle  Patent  Railway 
Company  shall  not  commence  the  construction  of  any  part  of  their  line  herein  au- 
thorized until  the  trial  section  upon  Greenwich  street  has  been  erected  and  tested, 
and  the  constructors  thereof  shall  be  at  liberty  to  extend  the  line  upon  Green- 
wich street  and  elsewhere,  under  the  restrictions  of  the  resolution  authorizing 
the  same. 

Provided,  also,  that  the  said  East  Side  and  New-Rochelle  Patent  Railway 
Company  shall  file  a  similar  bond,  and  shall  pay  into  the  city  treasury  the 
same  percentage  of  earnings,  and  shall  have  and  enjoy  the  same  privileges 
granted,  and  be  subject  in  matters  of  construction  and  operating  to  the  same 
regulations  and  liabilities  as  imposed  by  the  first  preceding  resolution  upon  the 
West  Side  and  Yonkers  Patent  Railway  Company. 

Resohed^  That  the  foregoing  permissions  are  given  conditioned  that  the 
Common  Council  may,  from  time  to  time,  regulate  the  speed  at  which  the  cars 
may  be  propelled  on  said  railways,  so  far  as  [that]  the  same  shall  not  endanger 
the  public  safety,  and  may  also  require  that  draw-bridges  shall  be  erected  on 


42 


the  several  lines  at  intervals  of  not  less  than  one  mile,  on  such  streets  as  they 
may  designate,  which  bridges  shall  be  opened  for  loaded  vehicles  of  unusual 
height  to  pass,  under  such  reasonable  rules  and  regulations  as  the  Council  may 
from  time  to  time  prescribe. 

At  points  where  the  line  of  streets  are  now  open  through  places  of  unusual 
width,  the  Street  Commissioner  shall  have  power  to  prescribe  the  intervals  at 
which  the  necessary  columns  may  be  erected  at  such  places,  subject  to  existing 
special  regulations  of  the  Common  Council  at  the  time  of  construction  relating 
thereto. 

The  permission  contained  in  the  foregoing  resolutions  shall  be  considered  as 
in  consideration  of  the  payment  of  five  per  cent  upon  the  gross  earnings  of  the 
several  railways  as  hereinbefore  mentioned,  and  shall  be  revocable  only  in  case 
of  persistent  default  in  such  payments  as  aforesaid. 

Such  reasonable  changes  in  matters  of  construction  of  such  railways  as  the 
progress  made  in  their  erection  or  operating  shall  develop  as  reasonable  and 
proper,  the  Common  Council  may  hereafter  permit  by  suitable  resolutions, 
without  waiving  the  claims  to  the  payment  as  hereinbefore  mentioned. 

Pending  the  reading  of  the  same — 

Councilman  Pullman  moved  that  the  further  reading  be  suspended,  and  the 
paper  printed  in  full  in  the  minutes. 

Which  was  lost.  * 
After  the  reading — 

Councilman  Keech  moved  that  the  resolution  be  adopted. 
Councilman  Stacom  moved  the  previous  question. 

The  President  put  the  question,  "Sliall  the  main  question  now  be  put?" 
Which  was  decided  in  the  affirmative. 

The  President  then  put  the  question  on  the  adoption  of  the  resolution. 
Which  was  carried  by  the  following  vote : 

Affirmative— Councilmen  Keenan,  Long,  Stacom,  Flynn,  Robinson,  O'Brien, 
Kenney,  Hartman,  Brinkman,  Koster,  Watts,  Keech,  Green,  Mackay,  Halloran, 
Hettrick  and  Imlay — 17. 

Negative — Councilmen  White,  Tyng,  Thomas,  Roberts,  and  Pullman — 5. 

And  the  same  was  directed  to  be  sent  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen  for  concur- 
rence this  evening. 

The  report  was  adopted,  and  the  resolutions  passed  by  the 
Board  of  Councilmen  by  the  vote  of  17  yeas  to  5  nays.  They  were 
sent  to  the  Aldermen,  and  adopted  the  same  day  by  a  vote  of  13 
yeas  to  1  nay,  and  ordered  to  be  sent  to  the  Mayor. 

A.  T.  STEWART'S  COMPLAINT  AND  INJUNCTION. 

Alexander  T.  Stewart's  complaint,  upon  which  an  injunction  was 
granted  by  Judge  Barnard,  from  original  on  file  in  office  of  Clerk  of 
the  Supreme  Court : 

NEW-YORK  SUPREME  COtJRT. 
City  and  County  of  Keic-  YorTc. 

Alexander  T.  Stewart, 
Pl'ff, 

against 

The  Mayor,  Alder^ien,  and 
Commonalty  of  the  City 
of  New-York,  Def'ts. 

The  above-named  plaintiff  complains  of  the  above-named  defendants,  and 
respectfully  shows  to  this  Court, 
That  for  many  years  past  he  has  resided,  and  still  resides,  in  the  said  city 


43 


of  New- York,  and  has  been  assessed  to  pay  taxes  therein,  and  has  paid  all 
taxes  so  assessed,  amounting  annually  to  many  thousands  of  dollars ; 

That  he  has  also  for  many  years  past  owned  and  occupied  real  estate  fronting 
on  the  street  known  as  Broadway,  in  said  city,  and  is  now  the  owner  in  fee 
simple  of  the  land  and  premises  following,  all  fronting  on  said  Broadway  : 

I,  The  plot  of  ground,  located  on  the  east  side  of  said  Broadway,  extending 
from  Reade  to  Chambers  street,  having  a  frontage  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet. 

II,  The  plot  of  ground,  located  on  the  east  side  of  said  Broadway,  extending 
northerly  from  the  corner  of  Prince  street,  fronting  on  said  Broadway  upward 
of  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven  feet,  and  now  occupied  by  the  Metropolitan 
Hotel. 

III,  The  plot  of  ground,  located  on  the  east  side  of  said  Broadway,  between 
Fourth  street  and  Astor  place,  known  by  street  numbers  726,  V28,  and  730 
Broadway,  and  fronting  thereon  upward  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet; 

That  he  is  also  owner  of  a  leasehold  estate  for  a  long  term  of  years  yet  to 
come  and  unexpired,  with  covenants  to  renewal,  in  the  land  and  premises  front- 
ing on  said  Broadway,  and  extending  about  two  hundred  feet  along  the  easterly 
side  thereof  from  Ninth  to  Tenth  street ; 

That  said  premises,  first,  third,  and  last  described,  are  covered  by  very  ex- 
pensive buildings  and  warehouses  worth  many  hundred  thousand  dollars,  hav- 
ing attached  thereto,  and  used  in  connection  therewith,  extensive  vaults  under 
the  sidewalk  and  carriage  way  of  said  Broadway,  in  front  thereof,  costing 
many  thousand  dollars,  and  the  use  of  which  is  worth  annually  many  thousand 
dollars ;  that  the  vaults  in  front  of  the  premises  first  and  lastly  described  he 
constructed  with  the  permission  of  the  defendants,  and  for  the  right  to  so  con- 
struct said  vaults,  and  use  and  occupy  the  same,  underneath  said  sidewalks 
and  carriage  way,  he  paid  to  the  defendants  many  hundreds  of  dollars  ; 

That  said  Broadway  is  an  ancient  street,  opened  as  such  by  the  owners  of 
land  fronting  thereon  at  different  periods,  commencing  prior  to  1G95  as  to  that 
portion  below  Maiden  lane;  the  portion  between  Maiden  lane  and  Dume  street, 
in  front  of  the  premises  first  described,  after  1095  and  before  1767 ;  the  portion 
between  Duane  street  and  Astor  place,  in  front  of  the  premises  second  and 
thirdly  described,  after  1795  and  1784;  and  the  portion  between  Astor  place 
and  Fourteenth  street,  in  front  of  the  premises  lastly  described,  after  1784  and 
before  1813; 

That  the  fee  simple  of  said  street  called  Broadway,  within  the  limits  afore- 
said, is  in  the  owners  of  the  property  fronting  thereon,  subject  only  to  the  pub- 
lic easement  over  the  same  and  every  part  thereof  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of 
a  highway,  and  for  no  other  purpose  or  use  whatever; 

That  said  Broadway  was  so  originally  opened  by  said  owners  for  their  own 
convenience,  and  for  the  convenience  of  the  public  traveling  thereon  with  their 
horses,  carriages,  and  ordinary  vehicles,  and  the  same  has  ever  since  been  used 
in  such  manner,  and  not  otherwise ;  that  to  appropriate  said  street  for  railroad 
purposes,  whether  elevated  or  otherwise,  would  be  appropriating  it  to  a  new 
use  inconsistent  with  the  purpose  for  which  said  street  was  opened,  and  would 
be  highly  injurious  and  detrimental  to  all  property  fronting  thereon  ;  that  said 
street  is  the  great  business  street  and  thoroughfare  of  the  city  of  New-York, 
having  located  thereon  large  and  valuable  warehouses,  requiring  free  and  unin- 
terrupted access  thereto  to  conduct  the  business  now  carried  on  therein,  and 
any  thing  which  would  tend  to  interrupt  such  use  or  access  would  depreciate 
the  value  of  the  property  on  said  street  in  a  very  great  degree  ; 

That  placing  an  elevated  or  other  railroad  in  said  street  would  produce  such 
interruption,  and  depreciate  the  value  of  each  city  lot  of  twenty-five  feet  in 
width  fronting  thereon  m.any  thousands  of  dollars  ; 

That  on  July  31st,  1866,  the  Boards  of  Aldermen  and  Councilmen  of  the  de- 
fendants passed  and  adopted  a  resolution  or  ordinance,  of  which  a  copy  is  hereto 
attached,  marked  A,  and  afterward  sent  the  same  to  the  Mayor  of  said  Corpo- 
ration for  his  approval ; 

That  on  August  13th,  1866,  and  within  the  time  allowed  by  law  for  the  pur- 


44 


poses,  said  Mayor  returned  the  said  resolution  or  ordinance  to  the  Board  in 
which  the  same  originated  without  his  approval,  but  with  his  objections  thereto, 
a  copy  of  which  objections  are  hereto  attached,  marked  B  ; 

That,  notwithstanding  such  objections,  the  defendants  threaten  to  pass  and 
adopt  said  resolution,  and  to  perfect  the  same  as  an  ordinance  without  the  ap- 
proval of  said  Mayor ; 

That  if  said  resolution  or  ordinance  is  again  passed  or  adopted  by  said  Board 
of  Aldermen  and  Councilmen,  as  they  now  threaten,  the  granters  named  therein 
will  enter  upon  said  Broadway  and  construct  an  elevated  or  other  railway 
therein,  to  the  great  and  irreparable  injury  of  all  the  property  fronting  thereon, 
and  to  the  special  injury  and  damage,  to  the  extent  of  many  thousands  of  dol- 
lars of  the  said  property  of  the  plaintiff  and  of  the  said  vaults  in  front  thereof; 

That  the  grantees  named  in  said  resolution  are  possessed  of  no  property,  re- 
sponsibility, or  ability  at  all  adequate  to  or  commensurate  with  the  injuries  and 
damage  their  acts,  in  constructing  the  railway  in  and  by  said  resolution  proposed 
to  be  authorized,  will  produce  to  the  property  fronting  on  said  Broadway,  or  to 
the  said  property  of  the  plaintiff,  and  unless  the  defendants  are  restrained  from 
perfecting  said  resolution  or  ordinance  the  plaintiff  and  the  other  owners  of  prop- 
erty fronting  on  said  street  will  be  remediless  in  respect  to  the  injuries  and  dam- 
ages their  said  property  will  sustain  from  the  acts  contemplated  or  authorized 
by  said  resolution  or  ordinance. 

The  plaintiff  is  informed  and  believes,  and  therefore  avers,  that  the  defend- 
ants have  no  legal  right,  power,  or  authority  to  pass  or  adopt  such  resolution 
or  ordinance,  or  to  authorize  the  construction  of  the  railwa}^  therein  contem- 
plated, or  the  doing  of  the  various  acts  as  in  said  resolution  contemplated  and 
intended ; 

That  said  resolution  or  ordinance  was  not  passed  by  unanimous  consent,  and 
although  acted  upon  by  both  Boards  of  Aldermen  and  Councilmen  on  the  same 
day,  there  did  not  then  exist  in  said  city  of  New-York  either  war,  pestilence, 
or  famine,  nor  was  the  same,  before  being  passed  by  either  Board,  published, 
with  the  Ayes  and  Noes  and  with  the  names  of  the  persons  or  members  of 
either  Board  voting  for  and  against  the  same,  in  the  newspapers  employed  by 
the  defendants  as  part  of  the  proceedings  of  either  Board  ; 

That  the  defendants  derive  a  large  revenue  from  granting  permission  to  prop- 
erty owners  on  said  Broadway  and  other  streets  in  the  city  to  open  the  surface 
of  said  streets  and  construct  vaults  underneath  the  same,  for  the  use  of  such 
owners,  in  front  of  and  in  communication  with  their  property  ;  and  the  permis- 
sion given  by  said  resolution  to  the  grantees  therein  named  to  construct  and  use 
vaults  underneath  said  Broadway  and  other  streets,  is  without  any  adequate 
compensation  and  in  violution  of  the  rights  of  the  owners  of  the  property  on 
and  in  said  streets,  and  of  the  rights  of  the  plaintiff  as  owner  of  the  fee  in  said 
Broadway  in  front  of  his  said  property ; 

Further,  that  the  various  rights  and  privileges  attempted  to  be  granted  and 
conferred  by  said  ordinance  or  resolution  are  very  valuable,  and  the  compensa- 
tion therein  pretended  to  be  reserved  and  acquired  by  the  defendants  is  wholly 
inadequate,  besides  being  so  uncertain  under  the  peculiar  phraseology  of  said 
resolution  as  to  render  it  in  the  highest  degree  probable  that  no  reserve  or 
compensation  will  ever  be  received  therefrom  by  the  defendants ;  that  the  right 
to  construct  and  operate  a  railroad  in  said  Broadway  at  a  fare  of  six  cents  per 
passenger  is  worth  at  least  a  million  of  dollars,  a  sum  far  beyond  what  would 
or  could  ever  be  realized  by  the  defendants  under  the  provisions  of  said  resolu- 
tion or  ordinance; 

That  said  resolution  or  ordinance,  if  adopted  and  passed  hereafter  by  said 
Boards,  will  be  illegal  and  void  ;  but  the  acts  of  the  grantees  named  therein,  un- 
der color  of  the  authority  conferred  thereby,  will  be  productive  of  great  and  ir- 
reparable injury  and  damage  to  the  plaintiff  and  all  owners  of  property  on  said 
Broadway ; 

Wherefore  the  plaintiff  demands  judgment  that  the  defendants,  the  Mayor, 
Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  of  the  city  of  New- York,  and  each  member  of  the 
Common  Council  thereof,  and  each  and  every  officer,  head  of  department,  and 


45 


clerk  of  the  defendants,  be  absolutely  enjoined  and  restrained  from  passing  or 
adopting  said  resolution  or  ordinance,  and  from  voting  upon,  passing  upon, 
perfecting,  or  adopting  the  same,  or  any  resolution  or  ordinance  of  a  like 
term,  import,  or  nature,  or  any  resolution  or  ordinance  authorizing  or  pre- 
tending to  authorize  the  execution  or  construction  of  any  railroad  in  or  upon 
the  street  called  Broadway,  in  the  city  of  Nevv-York,  or  permitting  or  author- 
izing, or  attempting  to  permit  or  authorize  the  entering  upon  said  street  by  any 
person  or  company  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  any  structure  connected  with  or 
to  be  used  in  connection  with  a  railroad  therein,  and  from  doing  any  act  or 
thing  tending  to  perfect,  or  adopt,  or  pass  said  resolution  or  ordinance,  or  any 
resolution  or  ordinance  of  a  like  term  or  import,  or  tending  to  interfere  with  the 
rights  of  the  plaintiff  as  owner  in  fee  in  front  of  his  said  property  in  Broadway 
aforesaid.  Henry  Hilton, 

Henry  H.  Rice,  of  Counsel. 

Pl'fF's  Att'y. 

City  and  County  of  Xew-  ¥01%  ss. 

Alexander  T.  Stewart,  of  said  city,  plaintiff  herein,  being  duly  sworn,  says : 
That  the  foregoing  complaint  is  true  of  his  own  knowledge,  except  as  to  the 
matters  therein  stated  upon  information  and  belief,  and  as  to  those  matters  he 
believes  it  to  be  true.  Alex.  T.  Stewart. 

Sworn  before  me  this  17th  ) 

day  of  August,  A.D.  1866.  f 

J.  M.  Hopkins,  Notary  Public. 


Hemarks. 

It  is  amusing  to  notice  that  owing  to  the  peculiar  construction 
of  the  sentences,  Mr.  Stewart  inadvertently  asserts  that  Broadway 
was  originally  opened  for  the  convenience  of  the  owners  on  each 
side,  and  for  the  convenience  of  the  public  traveling  there  with 
their  horses  and  carriages,  and  ordinary  vehicles  !  Foot-passengers 
will  please  take  notice  that  they  have  no  right  to  go  on  BroadAvay, 
except  with  their  horses,  etc.,  ancl  "not  otherwise." 

Mr.  Stewart  also  says,  that  "  although  acted  upon  (that  is,  the 
Resolutions)  by  both  Boards  of  Aldermen  and  Councilmen  on  the 
same  day,  there  did  not  then  exist  war,  pestilence,  or  famine." 

If  Mr.  Stewart  expected,  as  the  language  indicates,  that  this  action 
of  the  Common  Council  would  cause  the  existence  of  war,  pestilence, 
or  famine,  the  reverse  was  happily  the  fact ;  for  within  the  following 
month  peace  was  declared  in  Europe,  the  cholera  began  to  subside 
in  this  city,  and  the  President  of  the  United  States  feasted  on  a 
twenty-thousand-dollar  dinner  at  Delmonico's,  furnished  by  Stewart 
and  associates ! 


46 


NEW-YORK  SUPREME  COURT; 
City  and  County  of  N'eic-  Yorh 
Alexander  T.  Stewart 
against 

The  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and 
Commonalty  of  the  City 
of  New- York. 


It  appearing  to  my  satisfaction  that  the  plaintiff  is  entitled  to  the  relief  de- 
manded in  the  complaint,  and  that  the  same  consists  in  restraining  the  defend- 
ants, the  members  of  their  Common  Council,  the  Officers,  Heads  of  Depart- 
ments, and  Clerks  of  the  said  Corporation  as  hereinafter  provided ; 

It  is  hereby  ordered  :  That  the  defendants  show  cause  before  me  at  the 
Chambers  of  this  Court,  at  the  City  Hall,  in  the  city  of  New- York,  on  the 
twenty-fourth  day  of  August  instant,  at  12  o'clock  noon,  why  an  injunction 
should  not  issue,  as  demanded  in  and  by  said  complaint. 

And  in  the  mean  time,  and  until  the  further  order  of  this  Court,  the  said 
defendants,  the  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  of  the  city  of  New- York, 
and  each  and  every  member  of  the  Common  Council,  and  Board  of  Aldermen 
and  Councilmcn  thereof,  and  each  and  every  Officer,  Head  of  Department,  and 
Clerk  of  defendants,  be,  and  they  and  each  of  them  are  hereby  absolutely  en- 
joined and  restrained  from  passing  or  adopting  a  certain  resolution  or  ordinance 
heretofore,  and  on  July  31st,  1866,  adopted  by  said  Common  Council,  author- 
izing the  construction  and  use  of  an  elevated  railway  in  Broadway,.  Greenwich 
and  other  streets  in  said  city,  and  subsequently  returned  by  the  Mayor  of  said 
city  without  his  signature  or  approval,  (a.copy  of  which  resolution  or  ordi- 
nance is  attached  to  said  complaint.)  Also  from  voting  upon,  passing,  or  perfect- 
ing, or  adopting  the  said  resolution,  or  any  resolution  or  ordinance  of  a  like 
tenor,  nature,  or  import,  or  any  resolution  or  ordinance  authorizing  or  pretend- 
ing to  authorize  the  erection  or  construction  of  any  railroad  in,  over,  or  upon 
the  street  called  Broadway,  in  said  city,  or  permitting,  or  authorizing,  or  at- 
tempting to  permit  or  authorize  the  entering  upon  said  street  by  any  person  or 
company  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  any  structure  connected,  or  to  be  used  in 
connection  with  a  Railroad  therein,  and  from  doing  any  act  or  thing  tending  to 
perfect  or  adopt  or  pass  said  resolution  or  ordinance,  or  any  resolution  or  ordi- 
nance of  a  like  tenor  or  import,  or  tending  to  interfere  with  the  rights  of  the 
plaintiff,  as  owner  in  fee,  in  front  of  his  property  on  said  Broadway. 

And  hereof  fail  not,  at  your  peril. 
Dated  New-York,  August  17th,  18G6. 

(Signed)  George  G.  Barnard, 

J.  S.  P. 

Legal  advisers  make  the  following  answer  to  the  whole  matter : 
If  Stewart's  allegation  is  true  that  the  acts  of  the  Council  are  null 
and  void,  it  is  not  the  business  or  practi^ce  of  the  courts  to  enjoin 
nullities  ;  especially  where  positive  injury  to  plaintiff  does  not  neces- 
sarily follow,  and  ample  time  must  occur  for  his  securing  full  protec- 
tion by  ordinary  legal  remedies.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  not 
true,  and,  as  Judge  Bos  worth  and  other  judges,  assert  the  Counci 
have  authority  to  act,  then  it  is  not  the  province  of  the  courts  to 
prevent  the  exercise  of  the  lawful  discretion  of  the  Council."  There- 
fore, in  either  case,  on  Mr.  Stewart's  own  showing,  no  injunction  could 
properly  be  granted. 


47 


IMPARTIAL    OPINIOl^S    OF    THE    NEW -YORK  CITY 
PRESS  HERETOFORE  PUBLISHED. 

"H.  G.,"  in  the  Tribune,  of  February  2cl,  1866,  says  : 
OUR  city's  need. 

Several  hundred  thousand  persons — rich  and  poor,  male  and  female,  wise  and  sim- 
ple— earn  their  living  by  personal  effort  in  that  narrow  corner  of  ibis  island  which  lies 
south  of  Grand  street.  We  can  not  live  here :  for  most  of  this  area  is  needed  for 
stores,  banks,  offices,  factories,  workshops,  etc.  ;  and  it  is  inconvenient  to  live  across  the 
arms  of  the  sea  on  either  hand.  We  want  to  live  up-town,  or  in  the  adjacent  county 
of  Westchester ;  and  we  want  facilities  for  getting  quickly,  cheaply,  comfortably,  from 
our  homes  to  our  work  and  back  again. 

Street  Railroads  and  Omnibuses  have  their  uses;  but  we  have  reached  the  end  of 
them.  They  are  wedged  for  hours  at  night  and  morning  with  men,  women,  boys,  and 
girls,  sitting,  standing,  and  hanging  on  ;  it  would  not  be  decent  to  cnrry  live  hogs  (hns, 
and  hardbj  dead  ones  ;  they  are  unchangeably  too  slow ;  and  their  capacity  is  exhaust- 
ed. To  put  on  more  cars  or  construct  more  roads  is  only  to  monopolize  our  streets 
and  virtually  drive  all  carriages  out  of  them, 

Gentlemen  of  the  Legislature  !  give  us  both  the  Underground  and  the  Aerial  Rail- 
way !  Don't  lettheir  promoters  kill  each  other's  project;  for  we  badly  need  them  both, 
and  with  them  we  may  come  and  go  ten  to  twenty  miles  per  day  in  forty  to  eighty  min- 
utes, instead  of  thrice  the  time,  as  at  present.  Don't  let  the  lobby  make  the  bills,  but 
make  them  yourselves,  and  see  that  they  are  framed  in  the  interest  of  the  public  and 
not  of  the  stockholders  exclusively.  Let  the  city  have  a  slice  of  the  profits,  if  profits 
there  shall  be  ;  and  let  those  who  ride  feel  that  their  comfort,  safety,  and  advantage  have 
been  considered  in  the  premises.  Such  roads,  made  ten  years  ago,  would  have  saved  to 
our  State  millions  of  taxable  property  which  has  been  absolutely  forced  over  into  Jersey 
in  search  of  room  to  live  on.  Our  rents,  already  fearful,  are  going  up  twenty  to  thirty 
per  cent ;  and  there  is  no  sense  in  scolding  the  landlords  :  they  take  what  they  can  get, 
like  every  body  else.    Give  us  a  chance  to  breathe  ! 

The  following  is  from  the  New-York  Herald  of  January  25,  1866  : 

The  incapacity  of  Broadway  to  adequately  meet  the  requirements  of  so  important  a 
thorouglifai  e  has  long  had  the  consideration  of  the  community.  It  is  notorious  that  the 
peculiar  formation  of  Manhattan  Island,  with  heavy  bodies  of  water  on  each  side  run- 
ning its  extreme  length,  confines  the  extension  of  the  city  to  one  direction  alone,  while 
into  the  lower  or  more  commercial  part  of  the  city  is  thrown  an  amount  of  traffic  so 
vast  that  its  superficial  extent  is  not  equal  to  the  demands  made  on  it.  This  concentra- 
tion needs  the  most  direct  available  eomnmnications,  and  Broadway,  according  to  one 
view,  necessarily  becomes  the  main  channel. 

Seriously,  we  are  in  favor  of  the  relief  of  Broadway  whenever  a  proper  plan  is  sug- 
gested. We  have  none  of  our  own;  but  we  believe  that  in  the  end  the  real  relief  of 
the  thoioughfare  xoill  he  found  either  in  an  overground  (that  is,  elevated)  railroad  or  in 
two  broad  avenues  constructed  on  each  side  of  the  great  highway.  In  the  mean  time  we 
invite  oui-  reudeis  to  examine  the  numerous  plans  suggested  in  another  part  of  this  pa- 
per, and  select  one  to  suit  themselves. 

In  July,  18G6,  probably  during  one  of  the  "heated  term  "  days,  the 
editor  of  the  Times  discourses  as  follows: 

MEANS   OP  LOCOMOTIOX  IN"  NEW-YORK. 

The  great  inferiority  of  New-York  to  a  European  capital — London,  for  instance — is 
precisely  in  that  department  of  practical  life  where  we  should  least  expect  it — that  is, 
in  the  means  of  locomotion.  Here  is  a  mercantile  community  distinguished  the  world 
over  for  attaining  their  ends,  no  matter  at  what  expense — accustomed  to  great  plans 
and  to  executing  them — proverbially  active  and  impatient — to  whom  time  every  day  is 
more  than  money — yet  submitting  year  after  year  to  a  stupid,  dilatory,  inconvenient 
system  of  locomotion,  which  would  disgrace  a  village  in  Turkey,  and  apparently  doing 
nothing  to  reform  it. 

It  may  be  estimated  that  fifty  per  cent  of  the  most  active  and  energetic  business  men 


48 


of  New  York  live,  during  at  least  the  summer  season,  at  a  distance  of  from  ten  to  thirty 
miles  from  the  city.  The  remaining  portion  reside  at  from  three  to  five  miles  from  the 
business  quarter. 

It  is  well  known  that  thousands  of  people  of  moderate  means  are  more  and  more  re- 
moving to  the  country,  on  account  of  the  enormous  expenses  of  the  city.  These  find 
this  delay  and^  inconvenience  in  getting  to  the  business  streets  a  great  loss  and  annoy- 
ance. Xor  do'  the  inhabitants  of  New-York,  who  reside  here  the  year  round,  fare  much 
better.'  The  bulk  of  the  business  community  is  constantly  moving  northward.  In  ten 
years,  the  fashionable  quarter  will  be  around'  the  Park. 

And  even  now  tens  of  thousands  of  people  come  from  above  Fortieth  street.  All 
know  the  horrors  and  delay  of  that  dreary  journey  in  winter  or  in  stormy  weather, 
from  "up-town"  to  the  Court-House — the  crowd,  the  bad  ventilation,  the  weary  stand- 
ing, the  length  of  time,  and  the  wretched  condition  in  which  the  exhausted  passenger 
reaches  either  his  home  or  the  terminus  at  the  Astor  House. 

The  time  from  Fortieth  street  to  Wall  street  is  frequently  as  much  as  is  taken  by  an 
EngUsh  passenger  in  a  first-class  railway  carriage,  coming  from  a  villa  forty  miles  out  to 
the  very  centre  of  London,  and  in  the  most  economical  manner.  Nothing  of  this  weary- 
ing inconvenience  and  delay  is  known  to  the  English  public  in  getting  about  through 
the  great  metropolis.  The  cabs  will  do  their  three  miles  in  fifteen  minutes,  in  the  most 
comfortable  way,  allowing  the  merchant  to  look  over  his  letters  or  papers  in  privacy. 
The  railroads  come  in  from  the  country  over  the  tops  of  the  houses  or  under  the  cellars, 
and  thus  give  the  passengers  full  speed  through  the  heart  of  London.  The  river  boats 
take  one  from  the  foot  of  one  street  to  another,  in  the  most  pleasant  and  rapid  manner, 
where  omnibuses,  or  cabs,  or  railroads  convey  you  to  your  destination.  The  whole 
machinery  of  life,  by  which  one  can  do  more  and  lose  less  in  friction,  is  vastly  superior 
in  London'to  what  it  is  here.  And  yet,  when  one  considers  the  short  business-day  in 
New-York — scarcely  five  hours— the  gigantic  plans  made  and  executed  in  that  brief  in- 
terval, where  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  depend  on  a  few  minutes  more  or  less  of 
time,  where,  to  many  a  merchant,  nothing  which  he  could  pay  for  improved  locomotion 
could  be  compared  with  the  advantage  to  himself  in  time,  rest,  and  vigor  gained,  07ie  is 
surpriaed  that  the  inventive  Yankee  brain  and  the  all-povxrfid  capital  of  New-York  have 
never  coidrivcd  some  better  system  of  locomotion. 

The  World  lectures  the  Legislature  thus  : 

THE  STEASr  EAILPvOAD. 

The  fixilure  of  the  State  Legislature  to  authorize  the  construction  of  some  kind  of 
steam  railroad  on  this  island  will  be  sincerely  regretted  by  the  great  mass  of  our  citizens. 
The  experience  of  the  last  three  months  has  proved  to  the  most  skeptical  the  fact  that 
New-York  is  very  much  overcrowded.  Ten  thousand  additional  houses  are  needed  to- 
day in  New- York  and  Brooklyn.  Could  they  be  built  in  one  week,  they  could  be  rented 
the  next  at  remunerative  rates.  Capitalists  and  builders  still  decline  to  supply  this 
want,  because  they  fear  it  will  not  pay  as  a  permanent  investment.  High  wages,  the 
cost  of  material,  and  greenback  prices  generally,  require  so  much  money  to  be  spent  in 
the  construction  of  houses,  that  they  will  not  pay  interest  when  gold  is  again  currency. 
If,  however,  a  steam  railroad  from  the  Battery  to  Harlem  River  were  under  way,  it  would 
add  so  much  to  the  value  of  land  on  the  dipper  end  of  the  island  that  it  would  imme- 
diately stimulate  the  building  of  houses  on  each  side  of  the  Central  Park.  Those 
who  now  live  up-town  require  traveling  facilities  additional  to  those  furnished  by  the 
horse-cars. 

But  it  is  idle  to  complain.  The  duty  of  our  citizens  is  plain.  Before  the  next  Legis- 
lature meets,  some  plan  must  be  agreed  upon  for  a  steam  road,  or  two  steam  roads,  as 
the  case  may  be.  It  has  become  a  metropolitan  necessity ;  and  the  interests  of  rival 
corporations  should  not  again  be  allowed  to  deprive  our  city  of  this  much-needed  public 
improvement. 

The  Post  favors  the  "  underground "  railroad  for  the  following 
reasons : 

If  we  consider  that  the  crowds  on  our  present  city  railways  extort  double  service 
from  their  equipment,  which  yet  falls  far  short  of  meeting  the  public  wants,  this  need  of 
the  underground  road  appears  beyond  dispute.  Our  street  cars  were  designed  to  carry 
twenty-five  passengers  each,  whereas  they  carry  fifty  ;  and  even  seventy  are  not  unfre- 
quently  crowded  into  one  of  them.  Yet  the  walking  throng  up  and  down  the  city  is 
greater  than  it  was  before  the  building  of  "these  roads.    They  might  double  their  equip- 


49 


nient,  and  still  fail  to  dissipate  the  crowd  ;  but  that  would  double  their  a<rgression  on 
the  public  streets,  which  would  be  quite  unbearable.  Indeed,  the  streets  in  the  lover  part 
of  the  cdu  wdl  he<ir  no  more  ob-'frutfion,  edher  of  railways  or  any  thbicf  else.  A 
new  kind  of  vehicle  has  come  into  use  within  a  few  years — a  huge,  pondt-rous  wagon, 
three  times  the  length  of  a  common  cart,  which  must  have  two  horses  abreast,  or  three 
in  tandem,  taking  up  a  large  space  of  the  street  especially  in  turning  corners  and  cross- 
ing main  avenues.  The  prodigious  burden  born^  by  these  land-ships  gives  them  such 
momentum  that  they  can  not  be  resisted,  and  smaller  vehrcles  are  like  pasteboard  against 
them.  The  numerous  express  wagons  also  are  a  new  feature  since  the  old  slow  days  of 
ten  years  ago.  To  pilot  women  and  children  across  Broadway  is  now  no  small  part  of 
the  employment  of  the  ^^etropolif.an  police.  It  is  as  much  as  an  active  man  can  do  to 
traverse  that  gre<d  hippodrome  with  safety. 

It  is  the  intention  of  the  underground  railway  managers  to  carry  all  the  freight  that 
now  employs  so  many  of  these  wagons.  The  practice  of  the  London  road  is  to  stop 
the  pa.'Jseiiger  business  at  certain  hours  and  set  the  freiglit  trains  in  motion.  Jn  Xew- 
York  this  would  simply  divert  passengers  to  the  surface-trains  during  those  hours. 

It  also  susj^ects  that  the  horse-railroad  helped  to  "  kill "  the  iiiider- 

groiind,  and  dislikes  Commissions. 

Adjournment  of  the  State  Legislattre. — It  is  with  a  feeling  of  great  relief 
that  we  announce  the  adjournment  of  the  Albany  I  egislature.  It  can  do  no  more  mis- 
chief this  year,  unless  an  extra  session  be  held,  which  Heaven  forbid  !  It  must  be  ad- 
mitted, however,  that  this  body  has  not  been  as  corrupt  as  some  of  its  predecessors.  If 
the  members  have  made  money  apart  from  their  salaries,  it  has  been  by  killing  bills,  not 
passing  them.  We  presume  the  existing  horse-railroad  companies  must  have  had  a  hand 
in  the  general  slaughter  of  all  the  vew  railway  projects,  including  the  underground 
and  aerial  roads.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  meddling  with  city  matters ;  but,  then,  we 
have  got  off  with  oue  great  Commission,  instead  of  some  half  dozen,  as  was  threatened. 

The  correspondent  of  the  Xew-York  Tinies^  under  date  of  April 

12tli,  1866,  lias  the  following  short  notice: 

The  Senate,  to-day,  passed  a  queer  bill  amendatory  of  the  General  Railroad  Law, 
providing  that  companies  may  be  organized  to  propel  cars  by  stationary  engines,  to 
which  may  be  attached  chains  or  ropes.  \Vhat  kind  of  railroads  are  to  be  allowed  by 
this  bill,  or  where  it  is  desired  to  locate  them,  I  am  not  informed. 

The  correspondent  of  the  Wj?'Id  under  date  of  April  20th,  being 

the  day  of  adjournment,  has  the  following  : 

There  was  a  desperate  effort  in  the  Senate  to-night  to  pass  an  immense  job  for  the 
City  Railroads.  Ttie  Assembly  had  passed  the  bill  to  incorporate  a  Westchester  Road, 
which  Senator  Low  called  up  just  before  the  final  adjournment ;  the  members  were 
anxious  to  get  away,  and  paid  little  attention  to  the  bill,  which  was  about  being  passed, 
when  Senator  Williams  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  it  allowed  the  construction  of 
every  road  recently  asked  for  by  the  surface  people.  The  Senate  was  astonished.  Low 
expressed  ignorance,  and  the  bill  died  a  natural  death. 

The  Brooklyn  Uagle,  August  14th,  1866,  says  : 

The  Elevated  Railroad, — Mayor  Hoffman  has  vetoed  the  resolution  of  the  Xew- 
York  Common  Council,  granting  the  privilege  of  building  elevated  railroads  in  certain 
streets  in  Xew-York.  The  reason  assigneil  is,  that  the  Common  Council  had  no  power 
to  make  such  a  grant.  It  seems  that  local  bodies  have  no  longer  any  power  to  do  any 
thing.  Public  convenience  demands  either  elevated  or  underground  railroads  on  which 
steam  can  be  used.  As  to  the  means  by  which  the  railroad  companies  may  obtain  their 
grants,  it  makes  little  difference  to  the  people,  whether  the  privilege  is  bought  at  Albany 
or  in  Xew-York.  The  establishment  of  steam  lines  of  communication  through  Xew- 
York,  will  be  followed  by  similar  enterprises  in  Urooklyn,  consequently  we  feel  an  in- 
terest in  this  matter.  Mayor  Hoffman  has  not  consulted  the  best  interests  of  Xew-York 
in  vetoing  this  measure.  The  people  want  the  railroad  accommodation,  and  the  shortest 
way  to  get  it  is  the  best. 

Finally,  the  editor  of  the  Albany  E^iening  Journal^  on  the  day 
4 


50 


after  adjournment,  gives  the  following  advice  to  the  citizens  of  ISTew- 
Tork  generally,  and  is  entitled  to  notice,  as  from  a  disinterested 
party  : 

There  is  an  unfortunate  odor  of  the  lobby  about  all  New-York  railroad  bills.  They 
cpme  here  in  charge  of  men  loho  have  been  seen  here  too  much  and  too  often.  Now  if 
New-Yorkers  want  a  Broadway  railroad  —  below  ground,  on  the  ground,  or  above 
ground  —  let  them  adopt  some  means  of  expressing  their  desires  openly,  through  legiti- 
mate chrmttels,  and  without  the  necessity  for  summoning  the  instrumentality  of  the  pes- 
tilent gad-flies  who  buzz  about  hotel  parlors  and  in  the  vestibules  of  the  legislative 
halls. 

(Is  not  the  Council  of  JVeic-  York  its  legitimate  channel  ?) 

But  another  startling  flxct  has  not  been  mentioned  —  namely,  that 
there  were  forty-three  violent  deaths  in  this  city  in  the  first  six 
months  of  the  present  year  by  being  run  over  in  the  street,  as  j^roven 
by  the  coroners'  records. 

Let  those  who  have  not  examined  the  subject  scan  the  following 
record  of  deaths  in  our  streets,  for  the  first  six  months  of  this  year,  and 
see  the  appalling  fact  that  25  males  and  8  females  were  killed  by  horse 
cars  alone,  and  10  more  persons  on  the  two  steam  roads.  The  number 
killed  by  vehicles  would  swell  the  rate  to  100  per  annum  probably. 
Does  not  this  fact  demonstrate  the  necessity  of  some  new  mode  of 
transit  ?  The  Elevated  Railway,  when  properly  constructed,  is  incom- 
parably more  safe,  and  Avould  unquestionably  save  much  of  the 
slauijhter  of  the  citizens  now  occurrincf  from  the  overcrowdino-  of  the 
streets : 


Coroner'' s  Record  of  tlie  Icilling  of  Persons  in  the  Streets  of  ISfew-YorTc,  hy  Sur- 
face Cars,  during  the  first  and  second  Quarters,  186G. 


Avenue  Horse  Railways. 

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March,*  

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April,  

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Totals,  

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9 

Note. — It  is  estimated  that  there  are  five  accidents  from  same  cause  to  each  reported, 
where  limbs  are  broken  or  contusions  occui',  which  are  not  fatal. 


A  list  of  non-fatal  accidents  in  the  streets  during  the  same  six 
months  as  the  above  death  list  was  commenced  for  the  Company,  but 

*  Mr.  Brophy  was  crushed  to  death  between  horse-car  knd  curbstone,  name  of  line 
not  given.  Mr.  Bogert  died  in  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  New- York  ;  injuries  by  Flushing 
Raih'oad.  Of  above  number  eight  were  ladies.  Highest  number  killed  in  one  day, 
three. 


51 


it  was  too  long,  and  the  data  not  reliable.  Tiie  papers  average  a 
mention  of  an  accident  daily,  but  half  or  more  are  not  reported. 
There  are  at  least  live  serious  accidents  to  one  death  reported.  This 
would  indicate  five  hundred  serious  accidents  annually.  The  list  is 
often  fearful.  That  published  in  the  Xew-York  Times  of  August  24 
for  the  preceding  day  is : 

One  lady,  killed. 
Two  ladies,  seriously  injured. 
One  man,  hip  broken. 
One  man,  feet  crushed. 
One  man,  arm  broken. 

Total  accidents,  6  ;  and  all  by  street-cars. 

Two  of  the  accidents  were  thus  mentioned  at  the  time : 

Reckless  Driving  of  tiik  City  Cars. — Scarcely  a  day  passes  that  an  accident 
does  not  occur  in  this  city  from  reckless  driving-,  the  principal  offenders  being  the 
drivers  of  the  city  cars.  It  is  quite  true  that  it  is  more  difficult  to  stop  one  of  these 
vehicles,  when  going  at  even  a  moderate  rate  of  speed,  than  it  is  to  stop  an  omnibus  or 
carriage;  but  this  fact  should  make  the  car-drivers  more  cautious.  Frequently  they 
dash  through  narrow  streets,  crowded  with  vehicles,  in  a  manner  that  makes  their  pas- 
sengers fear  a  collision  at  any  moment.  Too  often  tliey  are  unwilling  to  allow  time  for 
their  passengers  to  get  off  or  on.  Yesterday  an  accident  occurred  in  Thompson  street, 
near  Fourth,  from  the  recklessness  or  perhaps  stupidity  of  a  car-driver,  which  might 
have  had  a  most  serious  result.  A  young  lady  was  riding  on  horseback  through  Tliomp- 
son  street,  when  a  car  came  rapidly  up  behind  her,  and  at  the  same  moment  another  car 
"was  driven  at  considerable  speed  round  the  corner  of  Fourth  street.  The  lady  saw  her 
danger,  and  called  to  tlie  driver  of  the  down  car  to  stop;  but  he  paid  no  heed  to  this, 
and  in  a  moment  the  lady's  horse  was  caught  between  the  two  cars  and  thrown  to  the 
pavement.  The  lady  was  badly  bruised,  but  fortunately  no  bones  were  broken.  This  is 
but  one  of  the  numerous  accidents  which  are  daily  occurring,  and  of  many  of  which  the 
public  never  hear. 

Pushed  from  a  Car. — John  Keating,  a  carpenter,  aged  about  fifty  years,  sustained 
a  fracture  of  the  hip,  and  was  otherwise  injured,  by  being  jostled  from  a  railroa(i-car 
while  in  motion.  Several  endeavored  to  jump  out  at  the  same  time,  and  hence  the  ac- 
cident. Keating  was  found  in  the  street  by  a  policeman,  who,  laboring  under  the  im- 
pression that  his  unsteady  gait  was  from  the  effects  of  liquor,  took  him  to  the  Forty- 
second  Precinct  Station-house.  The  real  nature  of  the  case  being  ascertained,  he  was 
conveyed  to  the  City  Hospital. 

The  same  p;iper,  of  another  date,  has  the  following : 

A  Painful  Accident. — A  correspondent  asks  special  attention  to  a  painful  occur- 
rence. He  says  :  A  sad  and  not  unfrequent  accident  occurred  to-day  on  one  of  the  city 
cars,  which  calls  for  a  word  of  caution.  A  passenger  sat  with  his  elbow  out  of  the 
■window,  when  the  stake  of  an  empty  cart  struck  it.  The  arm  was  jammed  so  violently 
against  the  window-post  as  to  shake  the  whole  car.  The  poor  man  said,  'My  arm  is 
broken,'  and  sank  back  and  fainted.  This  is  the  second  time  the  writer  has  witnessed 
precisely  the  same  painful  crushing  of  an  arm  in  a  city  car.  Few  are  aware  tliat  the 
danger  is  I'ar  greater  in  these  than  on  the  swiftest  locomotive  trains.  The  streets  are 
narrow;  they  are  lined  with  great  stores,  and  filled  with  carts;  the  hubs  of  these  carts 
pass  under  the  narrow  part  of  the  car,  and  the  strong  stakes  graze  along  the  windows, 
and  woe  to  him  who  heedlessly  leans  an  arm  outside. 

If  killing  and  maiming  are  so  common  now,  what  will  occur  when 
the  population  of  New- York  is  doubled  ? 

The  overcrowding  of  the  street  surface  is  caused  by  street-cars  and 
heavy  drays  and  wagons.  If  a  Society  can  find  scope  here  for  the  pre- 
vention of  cruelty  to  animals,  why  may  not  the  promoters  of  this 


52 


project  be  considered  as  a  society  to  prevent  deatli  and  cruelty  to 
pedestrians  ? 

Attention  is,  in  conclusion,  recalled  to  the  assertion  of  the  Even- 
ing Post,  that  "  the  streets  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city  will  hear  no 
more  obstruction,  either  of  railways  or  any  thing  else.''"' 

The  Elevated  Railways  do  not  obstruct  the  streets,  as  Judge  Bos- 
worth,  in  his  opinion,  so  forcibly  remarks,  and  hence  do  not  come 
under  the  rule  laid  down  by  the  Post.  And  at  the  same  time 
the  Elevated  Railways  do  not  obstruct,  in  any  manner,  the  horse- 
railways. 

As  to  competing  with  them  in  the  carrying  of  passengers,  it  is 
evident  that  one  class  which  have  short  distances  to  go  will  continue 
to  patronize  the  horse-cars,  and  only  those  who  have  comparatively 
long  distances  to  go  will  take  the  trouble  to  reach  the  second-story 
depots.  Under  this  obvious  classification  it  appears  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  there  will  be  ample  business  for  both  railways,  even  on 
the  same  street,  and  hence  there  need  be  no  feeling  of  rivalry  be- 
tween the  two  interests. 


APPENDIX. 


The  annexed  facts  as  to  the  overcrowded  condition  of  New- York  City  are  too  pertinent  and  valuable 
to  be  lost  sight  of  in  considering  the  question  of  the  value  and  importance  of  a  system  of  elevated 
railways. 

For  those  who  appreciate  their  importance,  the  same  are  placed  in  this  Appendix,  for  reference  and 
information  in  detail. 

EFFECTS  OF  IMPURE  AIR. 

Dr.  Youmans,  in  his  Hand-Boole  of  Household  Science^  after  showing  that 
the  various  fevers,  dysentery,  cholera,  or  other  forms  of  pestilence,  consump- 
tion, and  other  forms  of  scrofula,  are  caused  by  impure  air,  remarks  as  follows  : 

Art.  323.  "Bad  Air  Undermines  the  Vital  Powers. — And  yet  the  ftital 
effects  of  mephitic  air  are  by  no  means  confined  to  those  terrible  maladies, 
Cholera,  Fevers,  Consumption,  and  Infantile  disease,  by  which  the  earth  is 
ravaged  ;  by  undermining  the  health  it  paves  the  way  for  all  kinds  of  disorders. 
.  .  .  Individuals  may  often  continue  for  years  to  breathe  a  most  unwhole- 
some atraorjphere  without  apparent  ill  effects,  and  when  at  last  they  yield,  and 
are  prostrated  or  carried  off  by  some  sudden  disease,  the  result  is  attributed  to 
the  more  obvious  cause,  the  long  course  of  preparation  for  it  by  subtle  and  in- 
sidious poisoning  being  entirely  overlooked.  The  mass  of  mankind  refuse  to 
recognize  the  action  of  silent,  unseen  causes.  Our  youth  in  the  morning  of 
their  days,  and  men  in  the  meridian  of  their  strength  pass  abruptly  away,  and 
we  will  be  satisfied  with  no  solution  of  the  problem  which  refers  the  mournful 
result  to  reprehensible  human  agency." 

Dr.  Griscom,  in  his  Uses  and  Ahuses  of  Aii\  besides  showing  that  impure  air 
is  the  cause  not  only  of  all  the  various  fevers  that  afflict  the  human  race,  also 
of  dysentery  and  of  infantile  diseases,  and  of  the  various  forms  of  pestilence, 
when  speaking  of  consumption  and  other  forms  of  scrofulous  disease,  remarks 
as  follows  : 

''M.  Baudelocque  afflrms  'that  the  repeated  respiration  of  the  same  atmosphere 
is  a  primary  and  efficient  cause  of  scrofula,  and  that  if  there  be  entirel}^  pure 
air,  there  may  be  bad  food,  bad  clothing,  and  want  of  personal  cleanliness  ;  but 
that  scrofulous  diseases  can  not  exist,' and  supports  the  assertion  by  numerous 
cases  and  incontrovertible  facts." 

Again,  Chap. XVI.,  Dr.  Griscom  rem^arks  :  "  One  of  the  most  insidious  means 
by  which  impure  air  or  inefficient  respiration  assails  the  happiness  and  under- 
mines the  health  of  mankind,  is  through  the  action  of  the  superabundant  carbon 
upon  the  brain  during  sleep.  .  .  .  The  slow  and  gradual  poison  of  carbonic 
acid  covers  its  approaches  and  secretly  and  silently  saps  the  constitution  of  the 
teetotaler  as  well  as  the  intemperate  ;  of  the  industrious  laborer  as  well  as  the 
spendthrift ;  of  infancy  and  youth  as  well  as  old  age  ;  of  the  rich  as  well  as  the 
indigent ;  and,  in  too  many  instances,  of  the  learned  as  of  the  ignorant.  In 
fact,  people  seem  to  be  generally  unaware  in  regard  to  atmospheric  impurities, 
that  an  invisible  cause  is  capable  of  producing  a  visible  effect,  and  because  they 
do  not  here  see  that  cause,  they  think  they  need  not  dread  its  effects.  This 
error  of  judgment  is  the  more  glaring  and  inconsistent,  as  they  are  in  the  habit 
of  admitting  the  former  principle  and  rejecting  the  latter  in  almost  every  other 
department  of  philosophy." 

Besides  the  long  catalogue  of  diseases  caused  by  impure  air,  which  really 
carry  off  more  than  seven  eighths  of  the  human  race,  he  shows,  Chap.  XIII., 
that,  1st,  "  Vitiated  air  produces  inapitude  for  study,  and,  therefore,  ignor- 


54 


ance;"that,  2d,  "  the  judgment  is  perverted  by  it  and  it  produces  quarrel- 
someness ;  that,  3d,  "vitiated  air  encourages  intemperance  in  the  use  of  intoxi- 
cating drinks  ;"  that  "impure  air  encourages  vice,  the  most  degrading  vices 
that  6th,  "vitiated  air  produces  deformity,  imbecihty,  and  idiocy."     °  ' 

Note. — E.  Hare's,  Register  of  Vital  Statistics,  certificate  is  published  in  the  Xe«--York 
Times,  showing  that  for  tlie  last  week  in  August,  1866,  the  mortality  in  the  cities  of  Xew- 
York  and  Brooklyn  combined  was  843,  out  of  an  estimated  population  (census  of  1865) 
of  1,012,499,  which  was  not  above  the  proportionate  average  of  several  vears  past. 

Of  these,  the  deaths  classified  from  foul  air  diseas&'i  was  412  !  and  from  accidents 
22,  (of  which  several  were  from  street-car  accidents,  but  numbers  were  not  specially 
given.)  The  deaths  from  cholera  (71)  were  not  classed  as  above.  Thus  it  ajipears  that 
more  than  half  of  the  recent  deaths  in  Xew-York  and  Brooklyn  are  from  foul  air  and 
accidents — the  two  causes  which  the  Elevated  Railway  is  calculated  to  relieve  more 
than  all  other  agencies  combined. 


Extracts  fkom  REroRT  of  toe  Council  of  Physicians  to  the  Citizens' 
Association  of  New-York,  tpon  the  "Sanitary  Condition  of  toe  City. 

In  submitting  this  Report  to  the  Citizens'  Association  of  New- York,  the 
Council  of  Hygiene  would  state  that  its  cliief  object  will  be  to  exhibit  tlie  prac- 
tical conclusions  which  are  clearly  deducible  from  the  accumulated  records  and 
reports  of  the  Sanitary  Inspectors,  who  have  recentl}'-  completed  an  extended 
hygienic  survey  and  inspection  of  the  city.  As  mentioned  in  the  special  report 
of  the  Executive  Committee  of  this  Council,  herewith  presented,  the  carefully- 
recorded  observations  and  inquiries  of  the  Inspectors  furnish  a  vast  fund  of  fresh 
and  most  valuable  information. 

To  individuals  and  to  comnuuiities  health  is  a  priceless  boon.  It  is  equally 
valuable  to  the  poor  and  to  the  rich.  Its  influence  extends  not  only  to  'the 
social  and  moral  condition  and  prospects  of  the  individual,  but  to  society  at 
large,  and  public  health  becomes  a  public  blessing.  In  view,  therefoi-e,  of  the 
fact  that  in  gr-eat  cities,  and  particularly  in  New-York,  both  Life  and  Health  are 
peculiarly  jeoparded  by  various  and  very  active  causes,  wiiich  forethought,  in- 
quiry, science,  art,  and  good  governmental  regulations  may  remove  or  altogether 
prevent,  this  Council  has  cheerfully  accepted  the  task  of  instituting  a  system  of 
voluntary  efforts,  with  the  design  to  observe  and  point  out  that  class  of  causes, 
with  reference  to  practical  measures  for  controlling  them. 

sanitary  necessities  and  evils  of  crowded  cities. 

The  progress  of  civilization  in  all  countries  is  marked  by  the  aggregation  of  a 
large  proportion  of  their  population  in  cities  and  commercial  towns.  However 
unfavorable  to  public  health  and  to  personal  morals  this  circumstance  may  be 
regarded,  it  is  manifestly  a  fact  which  we  must  accept,  and  duly  estimate  in  all 
our  plans  for  the  physical  and  the  social  welfare  of  society  ;  for  it  is  an  inevitable 
tendency  of  an  advancing  civilization,  with  its  institutions  of  science  and  art,  and 
with  its  ever  augmenting  connnercial  and  social  necessities,  thus  to  centralize 
vast  populations  in  cities.  The  city  of  New-York  affords  at  the  present  moment 
a  striking  illustmtion  of  this  strong  tendency;  and  not  onl}'-  has  it  alread}^  be- 
come one  of  the  most  populous  and  densely-crowded  cities  in  the  world,  but  it 
is  plainly  its  destiny  to  become  at  once  the  most  populous  and  the  most  over- 
croicdcd  of  the  great  maritime  cities.  The  evils,  therefore,  which  now  imperil 
health  and  life  in  consequence  of  overcrowding,  etc.,  in  this  city,  will  tend  to 
increase  as  the  population  increases. 

In  all  the  problems  we  may  devise  for  the  sanitary  or  the  social  welfare  of  this 
great  metropolis,  we  must  accept  and  duly  estimate  the  fact  that  its  vast  popu- 
lation is  already  more  densely  crowded  in  its  domiciles  than  that  of  almost  any 
other  city  ;  and  that  the  evils  attendant  upon  overcrowding  and  the  aggregation 
of  vast  numbers  will  be  continually  augmented  as  the  population  increases, 
unless  the  resources  of  Sanitarv  Science  and  the  beneficent  operations  of  wise^ 
ly  administered  sanitary  regulations  are  interposed. 


55 


PREVENTABLE  CAUSES  OF  DISEASE  AND  DEATH. 

In  a  city  like  New- York  the  avoidahle  causes  of  sickness  and  mortality  are 
numerous  and  very  active.  There  is  reason  for  the  conclusion  that  to  tliis  class 
of  causes  alone  should  be  attributed  nearly  one  third  of  the  deaths  that  have 
occurred  in  this  city  during-  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years.  That  is,  had  the  avail- 
able resources  of  sanitary  knowledge,  and  a  wise  administration  of  municipal 
and  domestic  regulations  based  thereon,  been  kept  actively  and  very  generally 
in  operation,  the  greater  part  of  the  avoidable  sickness  and  mortality  would 
have  been  prevented.  The  annual  death-rdte  in  a  comminiity,  considered  with 
reference  to  its  average,  or  with  reference  to  its  variations  in  a  series  of  succes- 
sive years,  furnishes  a  sort  of  barometer  of  health  and  the  chances  of  life  in 
such  a  community.  The  fact  will  repeatedly  appear  in  this  Report  that  the 
chief  causes  of  the  excessively  high  death-rate  in  the  city  of  New-York  are 
definite  and  iirei^entable. 

THE  STANDARD  OF  HEALTH  SICKNESS-RATE. 

There  are  good  reasons  for  the  conclusion,  that  in  the  city  of  New- York  there 
occur  not  less  than  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  cases  of  sickness  to  every  death 
that  takes  place  ;  and  that  in  those  sections  of  the  city  in  which  the  rate  of 
mortalit}^  is  greatest,  the  ratio  of  the  total  sickness  to  the  total  mortality  is 
much  higher  than  the  aventge  ratio  and  sickness-rate  in  the  city. 

In  two  contiguous  tenant-houses  fronting  on  Pearl  street,  it  was  found  that 
among  seventy-four  families,  and  three  hundred  and  fortj'-nine  persons  of  the 
ordinary  laboring  class,  there  were,  upon  the  da}'"  of  the  inspection,  one  liun- 
dred  and  fifteen  persons  sick  and  diseased  with  various  maladies;  and  further, 
that  the  death-rate  for  the  preceding  twelve  months  had  reached  the  fearful 
maximum  of  one  in  nineteen  of  the  total  population.  But  it  will  be  observed 
that  while  the  death-rate  was  so  alarming,  the  constant  sickness-rate  was  even 
more  excessive ;  nearly  one  third  of  the  population  of  the  two  houses  being 
sick  on  the  da}''  of  inspection,  which  was  during  the  healthiest  period  of  the 
year. 

MORTALITY  IN  NEW-YORK. 

The  total  number  of  deaths  reported  by  the  City  Inspector,  during  the  year 
18G3,  amounted  to  25',  190.  This  was  an  increase  of  3052  upon  the  mortality 
of  the  previous  year.  The  mortality  of  the  year  18G4  was  greater  by  several 
l^ndred  than  in  18G3.  The  death-rate  in  1803  was  a  little  less  than  1  in  35  ; 
and  in  1804  there  was  a  slight  variation  from  the  ratio  of  the  previous  year. 
But  as  this  estimate  is  based  upon  the  assumption  that  the  rate  of  increase  of 
the  population  since  1800  has  been  about  Jue  per  cent  per  annum^  which  ex- 
ceeds the  rate  of  increase  during  the  period  from  1850  to  1800,  the  exact  ratio 
can  be  accurately  determined  oidy  after  the  absolute  population  of  the  city  has 
been  ascertained.  Yet,  for  the  purposes  of  our  present  inquiry,  it  suffices  to 
know  that  for  twenty-five  years  past  the  rate  of  mortality  in  this  city  has  been 
increasing,  and  that  it  has  fluctuated  from  the  ratio  of  1  death  to  every  3!)  of 
the  population,  to  as  great  an  increase  as  1  death  to  every  27,  and  even  to  every 
22^  of  the  living  ;  and  that  our  death-rate  invariably  keeps  above  the  highest 
average  of  other  American  cities ;  it  also  continues  to  be  higher  than  that  of 
the  largest  cities  of  Great  Britain  and  France. 

The  reference  which  is  here  made  to  the  rates  of  mortality  in  other  cities, 
might  be  followed  up  to  some  very  important  conclusion  respecting  relative 
degrees  of  insalubrity  and  mortality  ;  but  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  island 
and  city  of  New- York  possess  such  natural  advantages  of  salubrity  that  the 
comparison  of  this  with  other  great  cities,  American  or  European,  would  be 
unequal,  unless  these  natural  advantages  are  at  the  same  time  properly  estimat- 
ed as  being  in  favor  of  a  lower  denth-rnte  and  a  higher  average  of  health  in  this 
than  in  other  cities.  The  fact  that  the  rate  of  morality  in  New-York  exceeds 
that  of  most  other  great  cities,  may  justly  be  regarded  as  positive  proof  that 
the  mortality  in  this  city  is  excessive  and  unnecessary. 


56 


The  death-rate  in  the  Fourth  TVard,  in  1863,  was  about  1  in  25.  In  the  Fif- 
teenth Ward,  in  18(53,  it  was  1  in  60  of  the  population.  And  why  does  this 
wide  difference  in  the  death-ratios  of  these  neighboring  districts  exist  ?  The 
resident  population  have  just  about  the  same  distribution  into  families  with 
young  children ;  they  dwell  in  private  houses,  in  hotels,  and  boarding-houses, 
in  about  the  same  proportions  in  the  several  districts,  with  the  single  exception 
that  modern  tenant-houses  have  encroached  but  a  little  way  upon  the  Fifteenth, 
or  healthful  district;  yet  in  the  district  last  mentioned,  experience  demon- 
strates that  the  expectation  or  chance  of  human  life,  counting  all  ages  together, 
has  more  than  twice,  yes,  two  and  a  half  times  the  value  that  can  be  claimed 
for  the  inhabitants  of  the  insalubrious  districts  previously  mentioned. 

THE  TENANT-HOUSES  OF  NEW-YORK. 

The  sanitary  wants  and  the  social  evils  of  this  city  have  become  fearfully 
centralized  in  the  densely-crowded  tenant-house  districts.  The  most  zealous 
philanthropy  and  the  incessant  efforts  of  religious  teachers  are  striving  to  in- 
terpose such  moral  and  social  infiuences  as  shall  mitigate  the  evils  which  for 
some  time  past  have  been  rapidly  augmenting  in  connection  with  the  tenant- 
house  system.  The  moral  and  the  political  dangers  which  stand  connected 
with  this  subject  are  beginning  to  be  appreciated  by  reflecting  minds,  but  the 
actual  extent  and  importance  of  the  sanitary  wants  and  physical  evils  of  the 
tenant-house  population  as  a  class  are  by  no  means  adequately  regarded  b}^  the 
more  favored  classes  of  the  community;  while,  with  but  few  exceptions,  it  is  la- 
mentably true  that  the  suffering  classes — the  tenant  population  themselves — 
from  the  very  circumstances  that  surround  them,  remain  comparatively  un- 
conscious of  their  own  peril  and  disability,  both  as  respects  ph3'sical  conditions 
and  moral  infiuences. 

The  officers  and  physicians  of  our  medical  charities  have  had  constant  occa- 
sion to  note  the  peculiar  sanitary  wants  and  the  prevalent  diseases  of  the  ten- 
ant-house class.  The  public  dispensaries  of  New-York  annually  provide 
medical  care  for  about  150,000  persons,  nearly  all — probably  more  than  nine 
tertths — of  whom  are  inhabitants  of  tenant-houses;  the  various  hospitals  receive 
nearly  all  their  patients  from  the  same  class ;  while  the  almshouse  and  the 
penitentiary  scarcely  recognize  any  other  persons  than  those  long  familiar  with 
tenant-house  life.  We  thus  speak  of  the  inhabitants  of  tenant-houses  as  con- 
stituting a  class,  and  as  being  allied  with  the  causes  of  sickness,  pauperism,  and 
crime.  Circumstances  incident  to  the  growth  and  commerce  of  the  city  have 
nearly  blotted  out  the  private  residences  of  the  middle  classes  in  the  coM- 
munit}^,  and  with  the  loss  of  that  class  of  domestic  homes,  the  people  that  have 
been  driven  from  them  to  the  common  tenant-house  have  become  assimilated  to 
the  poorer  classes  from  which  the  almshouse,  the  hospital,  and  the  public  dis- 
pensaries are  filled. 

The  tenant-houses  of  this  city  are  unlike  the  habitations  occupied  by  the 
poorer  classes  in  any  other  city,  and  f)rincipally  in  the  following  respects, 
namely:  1.  That  the  occupants  have  less  personal  interest  in  and  control 
over  the  character,  cleanliness,  and  surroundings  of  their  domiciles  than  is 
usual  in  other  cities.  2.  That  the  rate  of  crowding,  both  as  regards  the  allow- 
ance of  superficial  area  and  of  air-space  to  each  person,  far  exceeds  the  ordi- 
nary degrees  of  aggregation  of  the  poorer  classes  in  other  cities.  3.  There  is 
less  concern  and  expenditure  for  the  welfare  of  the  tenants,  and  at  the  same 
time  a  higher  rate  of  rental  for  domiciles,  than  prevails  in  other  cities.  4. 
There  is  relativel}'  as  well  as  numerically  a  vastly  larger  proportion  dwelling  in 
crowded  tenant-houses  in  New-York  than  in  any  other  great  city 

Not  only  has  the  total  population  of  New-York  been  doubled  during  the  last 
twenty  years,  but  that  large  portion — always  a  majority  of  the  whole — that  com- 
prises the  laboring  and  poor  classes,  has  become  more  and  more  concentrated 
upon  given  areas  and  in  particular  streets  and  districts,  until  a  degree  of  crowd- 
ing has  been  attained  which  by  itself  has  become  a  subject  of  sanitary  inquiry 
and  public  concern. 

The  origin  and  growth  of  the  evils  that  now  characterize  the  ordinary  tenant- 


57 


housfs  of  this  city  have  resulted  from  simple  conditions  that  ought  to  have 
been  anticipated  and  provided  for,  and  which  may  still  be  met.  Tlie  report 
that  was  made  upon  the  condition  of  tliese  houses  by  a  special  committee  of 
the  Legislature,  in  the  year  1857,  faitiifully  describes  the  growth  of  the  tenant- 
house  system.    That  committee  reported  upon  this  point  as  follows: 

"  The  tenant-house  is  the  offspring  of  municipal  neglect,  as  well  as  of  its 
primary  causes,  over-population  and  destitution.  As  a  city  grows  in  com- 
merce, and  demands  new  localities  for  traffic  and  manufacture,  the  store  and 
workshop  encroach  upon  the  dwelling-house,  and  dispossess  its  occupants. 

^  As  our  wharves  became  crowded  with  warehouses,  and  encompassed 
by  bustle  and  noise,  the  wealthier  citizens,  who  peopled  old  '  Knickerbocker' 
mansions  near  the  ba}',  transferred  their  residences  to  regions  beyond  the  din, 
compensating  for  remoteness  from  their  counting-houses  by  advantages  of  in- 
creased quiet  and  luxury.  Their  habitations  then  passed  into  the  hands,  on 
the  one  side,  of  boarding-house  keepers;  on  the  other,  of  real  estate  agents; 
and  here,  in  its  beginning,  the  tenant-house  became  a  real  blessing  to  that  class 
of  industrious  poor  whose  small  earnings  limited  tl)eir  expenses,  and  whose  em- 
ploj-ment  in  workshops,  stores,  or  about  the  wharves  and  thoroughfares,  ren- 
dered a  near  residence  of  much  importance.  At  this  period  rents  were  mode- 
rate, and  a  mechanic  with  family  could  hire  two  or  more  comfortable,  and 
even  commodious  apartments,  in  a  house  once  occupied  by  wealthy  peoj)le,  for 
less  than  half  what  he  is  now  obliged  to  pay  for  narrow  and  unhealthy 
quarters.  This  state  of  tenantry  comforts,  however,  did  not  continue  long  ; 
for  the  rapid  march  of  improvement  speedily  enhanced  the  value  of  proj)ert3'' 
in  the  lower  wards  of  the  city ;  and  as  this  took  place,  rents  rose,  and  accommo- 
dations decreased  in  the  same  proportion.  .  .  .  The  spacious  dwelling- 
houses  then  fell  before  improvements,  or  languished  for  a  season,  as  tenant- 
houses  of  the  type  which  is  now  the  prevailing  evil  of  our  cit}' ;  that  is  to  say, 
their  large  rooms  were  partitioned  into  several  smaller  ones^  without  regard  to 
proper  light  or  ventilation,  the  rate  of  rent  being  lower  in  proportion  to  space, 
or  height  from  the  street  ;  and  they  soon  became  filled,  from  cellar  to  garret, 
with  a  ckiss  of  tenantry  living  from  hand  to  mouth,  loose  in  morals,  improvi- 
dent in  habits,  degraded  or  squalid  as  beggary  itself.  This,  in  its  primary 
aspects,  was  tiie  tenant-house  system,  which  has  repeated  itself  in  every  phase 
as  it  followed  the  track  of  population  from  ward  to  ward,  until  it  now  becomes 
a  distinguishing  feature  of  our  social  state,  the  parent  of  constant  disorders, 
and  the  nursery  of  increasing  vices. 

"  It  was  soon  perceived  by  astute  owners  and  agents  of  property  that  a 
greater  percentage  of  profits  would  be  realized  by  the  conversion  of  houses  and 
blocks  into  barracks,  and  dividing  their  space  into  the  smallest  proportions 
capable  of  containing  human  life  between  four  walls.  ...  Blocks  weie 
rented  of  real  estate  owners,  or  '  purchased  on  time,'  or  taken  in  charge  at  a 
percentage,  and  held  for  underlettmg."  * 

Such  has  been  the  progress  of  the  tenant-house  S3'stem.  Its  evils,  and  the 
perils  that  surround  it,  are  the  necessary  results  of  a  forgetfulness  of  the  poor, 
and  of  an  absence  of  sanitary  regulations  and  advice.  That  the  evils  and 
abuses  of  the  sj'stem  continue  undiminished,  is  seen  on  every  hand.  Not  only 
does  filth,  overcrowding,  lack  of  privacy  and  domesticity,  lack  of  ventilation 
and  lighting,  and  absence  of  supervision  and  of  sanitary  regulation,  still  char- 
acterize the  greater  number  of  them  ;  but  they  are  built  to  a  greater  height  in 
stories,  there  are  more  rear  tenant-houses  erected  back  to  back  with  other 
buildings,  correspondingly  situated  on  parallel  streets;  the  courts  and  alleys 
are  more  greedily  encroached  upon  and  narrowed  into  unventilated,  unlighted, 
damp,  and  well-like  holes  between  the  many-storied  front  and  rear  tenements  ; 
and  more  fever-breeding  wynds  and  culs-de-sac  are  created  as  the  demand  for 
the  humble  homes  of  the  laboring  poor  increases.* 

The  evils  which  we  have  so  freely  illustrated,  are  so  various  and  so  numer- 

*  Report  of  select  committee  to  examine  the  condition  of  tenant-houses  m  New 
York.    Made  to  the  Legislature,  March,  1857. 


68 


ous  throughout  the  city,  that  each  of  the  Sanitary  Inspectors,  excepting  only 
the  Inspector  of  the  Harlem  district,  has  reported  a  great  number  of  exaulples, 
and  notwithstanding  the  unusually  dry  and  healthful  seasons  of  the  past  year 
(18G4)  such  examples  of  overcrowded,  badly-planned,  and  malconstructed  ten- 
ant-houses have  always  been  reported  upon  by  these  physicians  as  having  a  direct 
relation  to  certain  prevailing  diseases  and  an  excessive  death-rate.  It  is  to  be  re- 
marked also  that  all  the  evils  of  tenant-house  crowding,  and  its  attendant  insalu- 
brity are  rapidly  encroaching  upon  the  up-town  districts,  and  that  they  are  being 
thrust  into  the  midst  of  blocks  hitherto  occupied  by  private  residences.  More- 
over it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  dwelHngs  of  the  middle-classes,  the  artisans, 
clerks,  and  persons  of  moderate  means  and  large  fjimihes,  are  yearly  becoming 
more  and  more  embarrassed,  narrowed  and  insalubrious  ;  and  it  may  reason- 
ably be  feared  that  unless  this  important  portion  of  the  community  puts  forth 
some  intelligently-directed  and  combined  efforts  to  procure  the  construction 
of  dwellings  adapted  to  their  necessities,  this  city  may  ere  long  present  the 
strange  anomaly,  for  an  Amei'ican  community,  of  the  entire  absorption  of  the 
artisan  and  middle  classes  into  the  common  herd  of  the  utterly  dependent  and 
tenant  house  class.* 

No  example  can  yet  be  shown  of  the  successful  attainment  of  all  the  essential 
conditions  and  appliances  of  healthy  homes  in  a  tenement-house  on  a  large  scale, 
or  upon  single  lots  and  ordinary  areas.  In  view  of  this  fact,  the  Council  has 
made  some  inqmry  regarding  plans  that  have  met  with  success  in  Great  Britain, 
where  the  whole  subject  of  UweUing  Improvements  has  been  carefully  consid- 
ered. In  the  overcrowded  cities  of  that  country  the  same  questions  that  are 
most  prominently  presented  in  New-York,  are  also  under  consideration.  But 
there,  capital,  philanthropic  effort,  and  scientific  skill  have  combined  to  work  out 
the  problems  that  now  command  the  same  combination  and  same  liberality  here. 
The  plans  and  efforts  that  have  enlisted  the  minds  of  Pi'ince  Albei-t,  Lord 
Shaftesbury,  and  the  leading  friends  of  humanity  in  England,  have  reached  such 
maturity  of  results  as  to  satisfy  the  highest  anticipations  and  promises,  both  as 
regards  the  saving  of  life,  health,  and  public  moi'als,  and  the  actual  compensa- 
tion of  the  capitalist.  So  well  convinced  of  this  fact  was  Mr.  Peabody,J,he  well- 
known  American  banker  in  London,  that  his  munihcent  gift  for  the  benefit  of 
the  London  poor  has  been  already  largely  applied  in  Model  Dwelling  Lnprove- 
ments.t 

*  The  diagram  here  presented,  furnishes  a  fresh  illustration  of  the  perilous  evils  to 
which  even  the  best  up-town  tenant-houses  are  exposed.  This  is  the  Jfoor  plan  of  a 
recantly-constructed  multiple  domicile  designed  for,  and  now  occupied  by  twelve  families 
on  each  flat.  Situated  on  Broadway,  and  another  desirable  street,  near  the  Central  Park, 
this  unveniilated  and  fever-breeding  structure  will  doubtless  continue  to  be  filled  to  its 
utmost  capacity  with  families  of  the  middle-classes  who  pay  well  for  rents,  and  wish  to 
live  respectably. 

Here  are  twelve  living-rooms  and  twenty-one  bed-rooms,  and  only  six  of  the  latter 
have  any  provision  or  possibility  for  the  admission  of  light  and  air,  excepting  through 
the  family  sitting  and  living-room  ;  being  utterly  dark,  close,  and  unventilated.  The  liv- 
ing-rooms are  but  10  by  12  feet ;  the  bed-rooms,  6|-  by  7  feet ! 

f  One  tliir  I  of  the  £150,000  given  by  Mr,  Feabody  to  the  London  poor  has  already 
been  expended  in  model  tenant-houses  and  lands  for  that  purpose.  Five  blocks  of  the 
building  are  completed.  The  essential  features  of  the  first  one  occupied  are  thus  de- 
scribed : 

"  It  is  a  stately  edifice,  more  than  200  feet  long,  on  Green  Man's  Lane,  containing 
fifty-seven  tenements,  all  occupied,  and  nine  shops  in  Commercial  street,  Spitalfields. 

"The  living-rooms  throughout  the  building  average  13  feet  by  10  feet,  and  the  bed- 
rooms 13  feet  by  8  feet,  while  their  uniform  height  is  8  feet.  The  staircase  and  ctn-ridors 
are  well  lit  with  gas,  and  the  fourth  or  top  floor  is  occupied  by  laundries,  areas  for  drying 
clothes,  and  as  a  playground  for  the  children  in  wet  weather,  and  by  bath-rooms.  There 
are  lavatories  on  every  floor  for  ordinary  toilet  purposes,  and  a  bath  can  always  be  ob- 
tained by  the  short  and  simple  process  of  asking  the  superintendent  for  the  key  of  the 
room,  in  fine  weather  the  inclosed  yard  is  an  admirable  play-ground  for  the  tenants' 
children,  and,  a  rule  excluding  all  playmates  from  the  outside  being  rigidly  enforced,  they 


59 


(1)  TJiere  exist  such  excessive  overcrowding^  uncleanness,  and  utter  want  of 
ventilation,  that  typhus  is  liable  to  occur  at  any  time ;  and  when  once 
infected  with  the  virus  of  that  fever,  such  houses  will  become  sources  of 
domestic  pestilence  and  of  danger  to  the  public  health;  (2j  that  the  number 
of  localities  which  are  already  infected  with  the  fever-poison  (including  both 
typhus  and  typhoid  fever)  in  this  city,  is  believed  to  be  not  less  than  jUe 
liumlred,^  and  (3)  that  the  total  number  of  insalubrious  quarters  which  are 
particularly  liaMe  to  an  outbreak  or  endemic  fever,  is  not  less  than  about  one 
fifth  the  total  number  of  tenant-houses  and  inhabited  cellars,  or  not  less  than 
three  thonsdiid  houses  and  places;  (4)  lastl}',  that  the  causes  which  have 
localized  fever  in  five  hundred  different  places  in  this  cit}^,  and  which  threaten 
its  outbreak  in  thousands  of  other  localities  in  the  various  wards,  can  be 
removed  and  prevented  only  by  thorough  ventilation  of  the  houses  in  which 
the  fever  exists  or  is  threatened  by  cleansing  and  purifying,  hy  thinning  out 
the  hidh/  overcrowded  hnildings^  and  by  the  perpetual  vigilance  of  an 
intelligently  directed  Sanitary  Police. 

As  we  have  said  in  a  former  section,  the  progressive  sciences  and  arts,  and 
the  genius  of  the  age  can  be  trusted  to  work  out  any  problems  which  hygiene 
requires  to  be  practically  applied.  But  the  fact  needs  to  be  borne  in  mind 
that  while  the  total  population  of  New- York  is  rapidly  increasing,  the  relative 
proportion  of  the  poorer  and  ignorant  classes  is  advancing  by  a  rapid  ratio, 
for  the  wealthier  classes  are  as  rapidl}^  peopling  the  entire  suburban  district 
over  a  radius  of  many  miles  from  the  counting-houses  of  the  city.  The  facts 
relating  to  the  ratio  of  increase  and  the  prospective  aggregates  and  location  of 
the  population,  are  so  well  presented  in  a  connnunication  recently  made  to  us 
by  Dr.  Franklin  B.  Hough,  the  Superintendent  of  the  Census  for  the  State 
of  New-York,  that  we  beg  leave  to  present  them  here : 

"  The  accompanying  table  shows  the  inci'case  and  decrease  of  tlie  population 
of  the  city  of  New  York,  constructed  from  the  census  returns  since  tlie  year 
1790.*  The  apparent  decrease  of  population  in  some  wards  is  due,  in  most 
instances,  to  subdivision  in  the  formation  of  new  ones  ;  still  it  is  apparent 
that  the  j)opulation  of  the  lower  portion  of  the  island"  [city]  "is  steadily 
decreasing  as  the  demands  of  commerce  crowd  upon  the  area  formerly  occupied 
by  families." 


Years. 

Aggregate  Population. 

Percentage  of  Increase  in 
Last  Decennial  Period, 

.  Annual  Percentage  of  In- 
crease. 

1830 

240,827 

1840 

892,147 

G2.8 

0.28 

1850 

693,058 

7G.9 

7.G9 

18G0 

1,145,338 

65.1 

6.51 

are  preserved  from  evil  associates  and  consequent  contamination.  In  tlie  centre  of  the 
ground  tloor,  and  dividing  the  shops  pretty  equally  on  either  hand,  are  the  offices  and 
dwelling-rooms  of  the  superintendent,  an  old  soldier,  whose  duty  it  is  to  keep  the  books, 
receive  the  weekly  rent,  and  see  that  the  few  and  simple  rules  laid  down  by  the  trustees 
are  properly  observed.  A  copy  of  these  is  supplied  to  each  tenant  at  the  commencement 
of  his  term." 

^  *  The  total  number  of  patients  with  typhus  and  typhoid  fevers  admitted  to 
Bellevue  Hospital,  and  the  Fever-Tents  on  Blackwelfs  Island,  during  the  year  1864, 
was  1209. 

The  total  number  of  patients  with  the  same  fevers  admitted  to  the  hospitals  of  the 
Commissioners  of  Emigration  during  the  year  was  1130. 

The  total  number  of  deaths  from  these  fevers  in  the  city,  including  those  in  the 
hospitals,  during  the  year  1863,  was  951. 


60 


The  future  rate  of  increase  of  New-York  and  its  dependencies,  as  a  great 
metropolis,  may  be  safely  estimated  as  high  as  7  per  cent  per  annum, 
although  the  distribution  among  wards,  and  even  among  counties,  depends 
upon  facilities  of  communication  and  the  demands  and  location  of  business. 

"The  island  of  Manhattan,  the  west  end  of  Long  Island,  the  lower  part  of 
TTestchester  Count}^  the  neighboring  shores  of  Xew-Jersey,  and  the  north 
half  of  Staten  Island,  are  destined  to  receive  an  aggregate  population  greater 
than  that  of  an}'  metropolis  now  existing,  or  that  shall  then  be  existing  in  the 
world.  "We  do  not  borrow  from  imagination ;  for  taking  the  last  census 
returns  of  the  city  of  New- York,  the  city  of  Brooklyn,  a  third  of  Westchester, 
a  third  of  Queens,  and  half  of  Staten  Island,  as  constituting  the  metropolis,  we 
have  the  following  absolute  and  comparative  numbers. 

"  While  we  can  foresee  nothing  that  will  have  a  tendency  to  check  the  general 
growth  of  New-York  and  its  dependencies,  as  a  whole,  there  are  doubtless  many 
things  still  unknown,  which  will  tend  greatly  to  accelerate  its  growth  in 
population  and  wealth. 

JOSEPH  M.  SMITH,  M.D.,  President, 
WILLARD  PARKER,  M.D.,  Vice-President, 
VALENTINE  MOTT,  M.D., 
EDWARD  DELAFIELD,  M.D., 
And  twelve  others,  Members  of  the  Council. 

As  a  sample  of  what  misery  there  is  in  New-A'ork,  we  subjoin  a  part  of  the 
Report  of  the  Fourth  Sanitary  Inspection  District :  ^ 

Boundaries. — The  Fourth  District,  comprisinrjf  the  Fourth  Ward,  is  hounded 
hj  Chatham,  Catherine,  and  South  Streets,  Peck  Slip,  Ferry,  and  Spruce 
Streets.  Its  average  length  and  hreadth  are  respectively  ahout  1900  and  1600 
feet. 

TorooRAPriY. — Deducting  the  surface  occupied  by  streets,  etc.,  a  superficies 
remains  of  about  2,240,000  square  feet,  or  about  8227  square  rods,  equal  to 
890  building  lots  254-100  feet.  The  soil  is  sandy  and  porous.  About  one  fifth 
of  the  entire  area  is  artificial,  having  been  filled  in  at  a  remote  period.  It  in- 
cludes a  depressed  space  near  its  western  border,  formerally  known  as  Beelc- 
man's  Siramp,  which  contains  about  100,000  square  feet,  and  still  retains  its 
paludal  designation  among  the  leather  dealers,  by  whose  places  of  business  it  is 
now  chiefly  occupied. 

The  north-east  and  the  north-west  corners  are  the  most  elevated  points,  each 
being  about  thirty-six  feet  above  high-water  mark.  From  the  former,  the 
ground  slopes  rapidly  south  and  west.  From  the  latter,  the  slope  is  by  a 
somewhat  abrupt  declivity,  south  and  east.  The  average  elevation  of  the  dis- 
trict above  high-water  mark  is  about  sixteen  feet.  Its  natural  drainage  is  good, 
as  the  ground,  except  in  the  vicinity  of  the  river,  is  generally  sloping,  the 
declivity  being  steepest  in  those  streets  which  run  from  Chatham  to  South. 

The  following  named  streets  and  parts  of  streets  have  no  sewers  within  the 
boundaries  of  this  ward :  East  Broadway,  Henry,  Hague,  Chestnut,  New 
Chambers,  South,  Front,  Water,  Cherry  from  Catherine  to  Roosevelt,  Pearl 
from  William  to  Bowery,  Madison  from  Pearl  to  Roosevelt,  Oliver  from  Chat- 
ham to  ^ladison,  Frankfort  from  Cliff  to  Bowery.  All  the  sewers  empty  into 
the  East  River  below  high-water  mark ;  for  about  one  half  their  entire  length 
the}'  are  swept  out  by  their  refiuent  tide. 

Of  the  71-4  buildings  classed  as  tenant-houses,  less  than  one  half  were  found 
to  have  a  waste-pipe  or  drain  connected  directly  with  the  sewer.  Where  this 
is  wanting,  liquid  refuse  is  emptied  on  the  sidewalk  or  into  the  street,  or  in 
some  instances  into  sinks  in  the  domiciles  communicating  with  a  common  pipe 
which  discharges  its  contents  into  the  open  gutter  to  run  perhaps  hundreds  of 
feet,  giving  forth  the  most  noisome  exhalations,  and  uniting  its  fetid  streams 

*  Statistics  included  in  the  lengthy  report  of  these  gentlemen  show  that  olFenses 
against  police  regulation  have  been  reduced  from  twenty-four  to  fifty  per  cent  where  the 
experiment  of  reform  in  workingmen's  homes  has  been  tried  in  England. 


61 


^vith  numerous  others  from  similar  sources,  before  reaching  its  subterranean 
destination. 

Slops  fl  ora  rear  buildings  of  such  premises  are  usually  emptied  into  a  shallow 
gutter  cut  in  the  flagging  and  extending  from  the  yard,  or  space  between  front 
and  rear  buildings,  to  the  street.  This  is  often  clogged  up  by  semi-fluid  filth, 
so  that  the  alley  and  those  parts  of  the  yard  through  which  it  runs  are  not  un- 
fiequently  overflown  and  submerged  to  the  depth  of  several  inches. 

There  are  more  thin  four  hundred  families  in  this  district  irhose  homes  can 
only  he  reached  hy  leading  through  a  disgusting  deposit  of  filthy  refuse.  In 
some  instances,  a  staging  of  plank,  elevated  a  few  inches  above  the  surface,  is 
constructed  through  the  alleys.  This  affords  to  the  residents  the  advantage  of 
a  dry  walk,  but  in  a  sanitary  point  of  view  its  influence  is  scarcely  favorable, 
since  it  prevents  the  removal  of  the  offensive  matters  beneath. 

Tenant  and  Crowded  Houses. — Under  this  head  I  have  included,  first, 
all  tenant-houses  built  as  such  ;  and,  second,  all  those  used  chiefly  or  wholly  as 
residences,  in  which  the  occupied  space  gives  2,  pro  rata  of  less  than  800  cubic 
feet  to  each  inhabitant,  without  reference  to  the  number  of  families  or  the 
population,  or  to  the  original  design  or  construction  of  the  buildings.  The 
total  of  these  is  714,  of  which  G56  are  brick  and  58  are  wood. 

Description  of  an  Ordinary  Tenant-House. — As  an  example  of  an  ordinary 
tenant-house,  I  select  one  from  James  street  for  description.  It  is  a  brick 
building  five  stories  high.  A  door  of  entrance  and  a  liquor-store  occupy  the 
front  of  the  first  story.  Entering  a  hall  4:}  feet  wide,  we  grope  our  way  up  a 
steep  staircase  2^  feet  wide,  which  is  perfectly  dark,  and  reach  the  second- 
story  landing,  from  which  open  four  doors  communicating  with  the  same  num- 
ber of  domiciles. 

Calling  at  the  first  of  these  we  enter  a  room  14  x  12  feet  with  ceiling  8  feet 
high,  having  on  one  side  two  moderate-sized  windows.  The  small  fire-place  is 
closed,  and  a  stove  exhausts  rapidly  the  scanty  aimospheric  supply  which  finds 
its  way  into  the  apartment  through  crevices  of  the  door  and  windows.  AVe 
observe  that  a  pungent  odor  of  coal-gas  pervades  the  apartment. 

Opening  into  this  room  is  another,  having  an  area  of  9  x  12  feet,  with  the 
same  height  of  ceiling  as  the  former.  It  has  no  other  opening  than  the  door  of 
communication,  and  of  course  possesses  no  means  whatever  of  efficient  ventila- 
tion. Looking  into  this  we  see  two  beds  beside  a  quantity  of  bedding  on  the 
floor  between  them,  indicating  that  this  is  the  dormitory  of  half  a  do/en  per- 
sons. A  sickening  and  stifling  odor,  most  offensive  to  the  unaccustomed 
senses,  pervades  this  apartment  and  poisons  the  atmosphere  inhaled  by  the 
residents. 

The  simple  fact  that  this  is  the  abode  of  six  persons  might  be  a  sufficient  ex- 
planation of  the  latter  phenomenon  ;  but  when  we  recollect  that  they  belong 
to  a  class  who  attribute  most  of  their  physical  ills  to  a  cause  the  exact  reverse 
of  that  to  which  they  are  generally  due,  namely,  to  exposure  to  the  external 
atmosphere,  and  whose  sanitary  creed  teaches  them  to  exclude  it  from  their 
apartments  as  far  as  possible,  we  can  only  wonder  that  the  mephitic  gases 
generated  and  concentrated  in  these  abodes  do  not  destroy  health  and  life  even 
more  speedily  than  they  appear  to  do. 

AVe  find  in  this  domicile  a  ipro  rata  of  about  370  cubic  feet  to  each  occupant. 
At  the  time  of  visit,  the  mother  and  two  small  children  are  the  only  members 
of  the  family  present.  The  latter  we  find  to  be  types  of  a  class.  xVlthough 
they  have  no  form  of  active  disease  present,  they  are  strumous,  debilitated, 
and  lacking  in  muscular  development.  We  notice  that  the  conjunctiva  is  in- 
flamed, and  learn  without  surprise  that  every  member  of  the  family  has  been 
affected  with  ophthalmia.  The  mucous  membrane  of  the  eyes  as  well  as  of 
the  air  passages  presents  the  constant  irritation  of  smoke  and  dust. 

The  remaining  domiciles  are  counterparts  of  the  first  as  to  arrangement  and 
condition,  and  almost  so  as  regards  their  occupants.  The  halls  are  practically 
destitute  of  ventilation.  The  occasional  opening  of  the  door  of  entrance  below, 
or  of  those  of  the  domiciles  above,  scarcely  has  any  favorable  influence  on  the 
condition  of  the  atmosphere.    From  the  latter  sources,  indeed,  the  halls  are 


62 


constantly  filled  with  noisome  and  fetid  exhalations.  Their  floors  are  washed 
occasionally  though  rarely,  but  the  walls  frequently  remain  for  years  without 
whitewashing  or  cleansing.  Wherever  the  hand,  comes  in  contact  with  them 
they  impart  a  sticky  or  pasty  sensation ;  and  when  scraped,  an  actual  deposit  of 
filth  is  brought  away. 

Pursuing  our  investigations,  we  next  examine  the  rear  of  the  premises. 

Through  a  narrow  alley,  we  enter  a  small  court-yard  which  the  lofty  build- 
ings in  front  and  rear  keep  in  almost  perpetual  shade.  Entering  it  from  the 
street  on  a  sunny  day  the  atmosphere  seems  like  that  of  a  well.  The  yard, 
which  is  about  25  feet  square,  is  filled  with  recentl3^-washed  clothing  suspended 
to  dry.  In  the  centre  of  this  space  are  the  privies  used  by  the  population  of 
both  front  and  rear-houses.  Their  presence  is  quite  as  perceptible  to  the  smell 
as  to  the  sight. 

Making  our  way  through  this  inclosure,  and  descending  four  or  five  steps, 
we  find  ourselves  in  the  basement  of  the  rear-building.  We  enter  a  room 
whose  low  ceiling  is  blackened  with  smoke,  and  its  walls  discolored  with  damp. 
In  front,  opening  on  a  narrow  area  covered  with  green  mould,  two  small  windows, 
their  tops  scarcely  level  with  the  court-yard,  afford  at  noonda}^  a  twilight  illumi- 
nation to  the  apartment.  Through  their  broken  panes  they  admit  the  damp 
air  laden  with  efiiuvia  which  constitutes  the  vital  atmosphere  inhaled  by  all 
who  are  immured  in  this  dismal  abode. 

A  door  at  the  back  of  this  room  communicates  with  another  which  is  entirely 
dark,  and  has  but  this  one  opening.  Both  rooms  together  have  an  area  about 
eighteen  feet  square,  and  these  apartments  are  the  home  of  six  persons.  The 
father  of  the  family,  a  day  laborer,  is  absent.  The  mother,  a  wrinkled  crone  at 
thirty,  sits  rocking  in  her  arms  an  infjint  whose  past}"  and  pallid  features  tell 
that  decay  and  death  are  usurping  the  place  of  health  and  life.  Two  older 
children  are  in  the  street,  which  is  their  only  playground,  and  the  onl}^  place 
where  they  can  go  to  breathe  an  atmosphere  that  is  even  comparative!}^  pure. 
A  fourth  child,  emaciated  to  a  skeleton,  and  with  that  ghastly  and  unearthly 
look  which  marasmus  impresses  on  its  victims,  has  reared  its  feeble  frame  on  a 
rickety  chair  against  the  window-sill,  and  is  striving  to  get  a  ghmpse  at  the 
smiling  heavens  whose  light  is  so  seldom  permitted  to  gladden  its  longing  eyes. 
Its  youth  has  battled  nobly  against  the  tei-ribly  morbid  and  devitalizing  agents 
which  have  oppressed  its  childish  life — the  poisonous  air,  the  darkness,  and 
the  damp ;  but  the  battle  is  nearly  over,  it  is  easy  to  decide  where  the  victory 
will  be. 

My  district  contains  one  tenant-house  which  has  become  rather  notorious  in 
consequence  of  having  been  the  subject  of  several  special  reports,  one  of  which 
I  made  about  three  years  since.  As  this  establishment  is  very  extensive,  and 
possesses  some  peculiar  cliaracteristics,  and  as  the  description  of  these  premises 
and  their  population  which  I  gave  in  that  report  is  equally  applicable  now,  I 
quote  from  it  here  :  * 

"  The  building  known  as  No.  —  and  No.  —  Cherry  street  forms  a  part  of 
what  has  heretofore  been  known  as  'Gotham  Court.'  As  measured,  it  is  34 
feet  4  inches  wide  in  front  and  rear,  is  234  feet  long  and  5  stories  high.  On  the 
north  it  is  contiguous  to  a  large  tenant-house  fronting  on  Eoosevelt  street. 
On  the  west  an  alley,  9  feet  wide,  separates  it  from  a  similar  structure  forming  a 
part  of  the  'Court.'  On  the  east  another  alley,  7  feet  wide,  divides  it  from  the 
rear  of  a  number  of  houses  on  Roosevelt  street. 

"  In  the  basement  of  this  building  are  the  privies,  through  which  the  Croton 
water  is  permitted  to  run  for  a  short  time  occasionally  ;  but  this  is  evidently 
insufficient  to  cleanse  them,  for  their  emanations  render, the  first  story  exceed- 
ingly offensive,  and  may  be  perceived  as  a  distinct  odor  as  high  as  the  third 
floor. 

"The  contents  of  the  privies  are  discharged  into  subterranean  drains  or 

*  The  Inspector  of  the  Fourth  District  prepared  the  special  report  here  referred  to 
when  he  was  Visiting  Physician  to  the  New-York  City  Di^^pensary  iu  the  same  district 
in  the  year  1859-60. — Editor. 


63 


sewers,  which  run  through  each  alley  and  communicate  with  the  external 
atmosphere  bv  a  series  of  grated  openings,  through  which  fetid  exhalations  are 
continually  arising.  These  openings  receive  the  drainage  of  the  buildings, 
besides  the  refuse  matter  which  is  not  too  bulky  to  pass  through  the  gratings,  a 
bordering  of  disgusting  filth  frequently  surrounding  them. 

This  structure  contains  twelve  principal  divisions,  each  having  a  common 
staircase  communicating  with  10  domiciles,  making  120  tenements  in  all.  Each 
tenement  consists  of  two  rooms,  the  largest  of  which  is  14  feet  8  inches  long,  9 
feet  6  inches  wide,  and  8  feet  4  inches  high.  The  smaller,  having  the  same 
length  and  height,  is  8  feet  6  inches  wide.  The  two  apartments  together  con- 
tain Idoo^  cubic  feet.  Each  room  has  one  small  window.  The  doors  leading 
from  the  landings  are  contiguous  to  the  wall  in  which  these  windows  are  situ- 
ated, so  that  it  is  impossible  for  a  current  of  air  to  pass  through  the  rooms  under 
any  circumstances. 

xVt  the  time  of  visit  49  of  the  tenements  were  cither  vacant  or  the  occupants 
absent.  In  the  remaining  71  there  were  reported  as  residing  504  persons, 
averaging  a  little  more  than  7  persons  to  each  occupied  domicile.  The  entire 
amount  of  space  in  the  rooms  occupied  is  138,840  cubic  feet,  which  would  be 
equal  to  a  single  room  118  feet  square,  and  about  10  feet  high,  giving  each  in- 
dividual an  average  of  about  275  cubic  feet,  equal  to  a  closet  5  Icet  square  and 
11  feet  high.  It  must  be  recollected  that  the  above  total  space  contains  not 
only  its  5u4  inhabitants,  but  their  furniture,  bedding,  and  household  utensils, 
besides  no  small  portion  of  their  excretions,  as  is  painfully  evident  to  every  one 
who,  in  these  regions,  has  the  misfortune  to  possess  an  acute  sense  of  smell. 
Of  the  entire  number  of  tenements,  four  only  were  found  in  a  condition  ap- 
proaching cleanliness.  It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  the  entire  establishment 
swarms  with  vermin. 

''In  seven  of  the  tenements  tailoring  was  carried  on.  In  five  out  of  seven 
the  articles  manufoctured  were  for  the  use  of  the  army.  In  two  of  these  rooms 
patients  were  found  sick  of  contagious  diseases.  One  was  a  case  of  typhus  fever, 
the  other  of  measles. 

"  It  was  admitted  that  19  persons  were  unvaccinated.  These  were  chiefly 
children,  but  it  is  probable  that  a  much  larger  number  are  unprotected  from 
variola,  for  in  several  instances  those  who  asserted  that  the  operation  had  been 
successfully  performed,  foiled,  on  examination,  to  exhibit  a  vaccine  scar. 

The  average  length  of  time  that  the  residents  have  occupied  the  premises 
is  reported  to  be  about  two  years  and  eight  months.  There  have  been  138 
births,  including  12  still-born,  in  these  families  during  their  term  of  residence 
in  the  building.  Of  these  only  77  are  now  living,  showing  an  infant  mortality 
of  over  44  per  cent  in  two  years  and  eight  months  ;  but  as  by  far  the  greater 
number  of  these  deaths  occux  during  the  first  3'ear,  it  may  be  safely  assumed 
that  30  per  cent  of  those  born  heie  do  not  survive  a  twelvemonth.  The  total 
number  of  deaths  reported  as  occurring  in  the  families  now  occupying  the  prem- 
ises during  their  term  of  residence  there,  is  98,  or  about  19^  per  cent  of  the 
population  for  that  period. 

"  Of  the  504  inmates,  14G,  or  about  29  per  cent,  were  found  to  be  suffering 
from  diseases  of  a  more  or  less  serious  character,  among  which  were  four  cases 
of  small-pox,  (three  of  them  unvaccinated,)  eight  cases  of  typhus  fever,  seven 
cases  of  scarlatina,  and  four  of  measles  in  the  eruptive  stage,  twenty-seven 
cases  of  infantile  marasmus,  twelve  cases  of  phthisis  pulmonalis,  five  cases  of 
dysentery,  three  cases  of  chronic  diarrhea,  and  a  large  number  of  slight  cases 
of  diarrhea  and  of  cutaneous  eruptions. 

"  It  is  difficult  to  form  a  satisfactory  estimate  of  the  comparative  frequency 
of  the  different  diseases  heretofore  prevailing,  the  inmates  being,  in  a  great  pro- 
portion of  cases,  ignorant  of  their  character.  It  is,  of  course,  equally  difficult 
to  arrive  at  the  causes  of  death,  but  it  is  pretty  well  ascertained  thai  at  least 
twenty  cases  of  small-pox  occurred  during  the  past  year,  of  which  six  were 
fatal.  Scarlatina  is  assigned  as  the  cause  of  sixteen  deaths  occurring  during 
the  above  period.  Typhus  fever  undoubtedly  claimed  numerous  victims,  as  it 
has  been  quite  prevalent.    To  the  unaccustomed  eye  it  is  a  sad  and  striking 


64 


spectacle  to  witness  the  attenuated  forms,  the  sunken  eyes,  the  pinched  and 
withered  faces  of  the  httle  patients,  young  in  years  but  old  in  sufferine,  who 
are  the  prey  of  infantile  marasmus.  A  glance  is  sufficient  to  designate  \his  as 
one  of  the  ghostly  janitors,  ever  ready  to  open  wide  the  gate  which  leads  to 
early  death. 

*' A*  description  of  these  premises  would  be  incomplete  without,  at  least,  a 
passing  notice  of  two  establishments  occupying  the  front  portion  of  the  first 
story.  One  is  termed  a  grocery,  the  other  a  liquor-store.  Both  are  apparently 
pretty  well  patronized.  At  the  former  are  retailed  a  variety  of  articles  of  food 
including  partially-decayed  vegetables,  rather  suspicious-looking  solids,  bearing 
respectively  the  names  of  butter  and  cheese,  and  a  decidedly  suspicious  fluid 
bearing  the  name  of  milk.  Beer  and  alcoholic  compounds  are  also  dispensed. 
At  the  adjoining  shop  the  staple  commodities  are  those  indescribable  com- 
pounds of  sundry  known  and  unknown  ingredients,  which  are  sold  as  '  pure 
imported  wines  and  liquors.'  I  believe  from  what  I  could  ascertain  that  these 
liquors  are  used  to  a  considerable  extent  b}^  almost  every  family  on  the  prem- 
ises ;  a  tact,  indeed,  whicli  might  be  expected,  for  in  such  apartments  as  they 
occupy  the  poisonous  air  begets  a  deadly  lassitude,  and  generates  an  inordinate 
desire  for  stimulants.  To  the  effect  of  these  unwholesome  viands  and  poison- 
ous beverages  ma}^  probably  be  traced  much  of  the  diarrhea  which  prevails 
here  even  at  this  season,  and  which  is  vastly  increased  in  amount  during  the' 
summer  months. 

"  On  the  whole,  perhaps,  this  section  of  Gotham  Court  presents  about  an 
average  specimen  of  tenant-houses  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city  in  respect  to 
salubrity.  There  are  some  which  are  more  roomy,  have  better  means  of  ven- 
tilationj  and  are  kept  cleaner  ;  but  there  are  many  which  are  in  f\ir  worse  con- 
dition, and  exhibit  a  much  higher  rate  of  mortality  than  this." 

The  number  of  inhabited  basements  and  cellars  is  224,  occupied  by  208  fam- 
ilies, or  about  1400  persons.  Their  depth  below  the  "curb"  or  street  level 
varies  from  2  to  8  feet,  averaging  about  4^  feet. 


The  floors  of  16  are  below  high-water  mark. 

"  91   "  less  than  10  feet  above  high-water  mark. 

"  84  "  from  10  to  20 

"  28  "      "    20  to  30        "  "  " 

u  5  u  Q^gj.  30  u  u  u 


In  the  sub-tidal  basements  19  families,  or  110  persons,  live  lencath  tie  level 
of  the  sea. 

This  submarine  region  is  not  onl}-  excessively  damp,  but  is  liable  to  sudden 
inroads  from  the  domains  of  Neptune.  At  high-tide  the  water  often  wells  up 
through  the  doors,  submerging  them  to  a  considerable  depth.  The  constant 
repetition  of  this  aquatic  episode  in  domestic  life,  has  led  to  the  abandonment, 
as  residences,  of  several  of  these  basements,  the  number  now  occupied  being 
much  smaller  than  it  was  foi-n)erly. 

They  are  all  damp,  those  in  the  least  elevated  localities,  of  course,  being  most 
so.  In  very  many  cases  the  vaults  of  privies  are  situated  on  the  same  or  a 
higher  level,  and  their  contents  frequently  ooze  through  walls  into  the  occupied 
apartments  beside  them.  Fully  one  fourth  of  these  subterranean  domiciles  are 
pervaded  by  a  most  offensive  odor  from  this  source,  and  rendered  exceedingly 
unwholesome  as  human  habitations.  These  are  the  places  in  which  we  most 
frequently  meet  with  typhoid  fever  and  dysenter}^  during  the  summer  months.  ! 
I  estimate  the  amount  of  sickness  of  all  kinds  affecting  the  residents  of  base- 
ments and  cellars  compared  with  that  occurring  among  an  equal  number  of  the 
inhabitants  of  floors  above  ground,  as  being  about  in  the  ratio  of  3  to  2. 

Rents, — In  regular  tenant-houses  the  rent  of  each  domicile  at  present  aver- 
ages §9  per  month,  or  $108  per  year  ;  the  entire  rent  of  each  of  these  houses 
thus  averaging  $950  per  annum. 

Excessive  Crowding  of  Houses  iqjon  Lots. — In  some  cases  front  and  rear  ; 
buildings  are  situated  on  lots  less  than  80  feet  deep.    They  are  generally 


I 


bird's-eye  view  of  a  xeav  feyer-xest  on  the  ayexues. 


The  Ground-Plan,  with  Explanatory  Symbols. 


65 


crowded  into  the  smallest  possible  space,  and  are  constructed  in  the  cheapest 
manner. 

They  are,  in  many  instances,  owned  by  large  capitalists,  by  whom  they  are 
farmed  out  to  a  class  of  factors  who  make  this  their  especial  business.*  These 
men  pay  to  the  owners  of  the  property  a  sum  which  is  considered  a  fair  return 
on  the  capital  invested,  and  rely  for  their  profits  (which  are  often  enormous)  on 
the  additional  amount  which  they  can  extort  from  the  wretched  tenants  whose 
homes  frequently  become  almost  untenantable  for  want  of  repairs,  which  the 
"agent"  cleems  it  to  his  interest  to  withhold.  These  men  contrive  to  absorb 
most  of  the  scanty  surplus  which  remains  to  the  tenants  after  paying  for  their 
miserable  food,  shelter,  and  raiment.  They  are,  in  many  instances,  proprietors 
of  low  groceries,  liquor-stores,  and  "policy-shops"  connected  with  such  prem- 
ises— the  same  individual  often  being  the  actual  owner  of  a  large  number. 
Many  of  the  wretched  population  are  held  by  these  men  in  a  state  of  abject  de- 
pendence and  vassalage  little  short  of  absolute  slavery. 

Massing  of  Tenements. — The  following  is  a  fair  illustration  of  the  manner  in 
which  building  lots  are  often  crowded  :  A  row  of  four  or  five-story  brick  tenements 
stands  facing  the  street,  twenty  or  t\vent3'-five  feet  in  the  rear  of  which  stands  a 
similar  row,  on  the  rear  portion  of  the  same  lots  on  which  the  front  houses  stand. 
In  the  rear  of  these  rear  houses,  at  a  distance  varying  from  a  few  inches  to  two 
feet,  stand  the  corresponding  rear  houses  of  the  next  street,  and  twenty  or  twen- 
ty-five feet  in  front  of  these  last  mentioned  stands  the  corresponding  row  of  front 
houses.  In  this  manner  twenty  houses,  each  twenty  feet  wide,  and  as  high  as 
it  pleases  the  owner  to  rear  them,  may  stand  on  a  space  of  less  than  20,000 
square  feet ;  and  allowing  each  front  house  to  contain  eight,  and  each  rear  house 
•four  families,  (a  moderate  estimate,)  we  have  to  each  famil}^  about  lfi-4  square 
feet  of  ground.  The  wood-cut  on  the  next  page  presents  a  bird's-eye  view  and 
ground-plan  of  the  locality  here  described.  It  is  the  western  section  of  a  newly 
built-up  square,  not  far  from  the  great  hotels  on  Fifth  Avenue  and  Broadway, 
and  will  almost  inevitably  become  a  fever-nest. 

*  The  diagram  on  the  opposite  page  represents  an  area  eighty  yards  long  and  fifty 
yards  wide,  including  the  nd-dc-sac  at  the  termination  of  Clifif  street.  It  illustrates  the 
proximity  to  crowded  habitations  of  offensive  and  dangerous  nuisances,  ofren  observed 
in  the  lower  part  of  the  city.  The  diagram  presents  an  accurate  ground-plan  of  each 
tenant-house  which  it  embraces.  Within  this  space  are  20  dwellings  occupied  by  111 
families,  and  having  a  population  of  538  persons.  A  soap-and-candle  factory,  a  tannery, 
and  five  stables,  in  which  are  kept  not  less  than  30  horses,  are  also  wholly  or  partially 
included  within  its  limits. 

A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  are  tenant-houses  fronting  on  Yandewater  street.  An  alley  four  feet 
wide  running  through  C  forms  the  sole  communication  with  the  five  tenant-houses  F,  G, 
H,  I,  J,  which  open  into  the  small  court  R,  in  which  stands  their  common  privy,/,  sit- 
uated within  three  feet  of  the  hall-door  of  one  of  the  houses,  which  is  constantly  per- 
vaded by  its  noisome  odor ;  c,  </,  are  privies  situated  immediately  under  the  windows 
of  the  houses  F,  G,  H  ;  a  and  b  are  privies  belonging  to  the  tenant-houses  A  and  B  ; 
K,  L,  M,  N,  are  tenant-houses  standing  back  to  back  with  two  of  those  in  the  court 
above  mentioned  and  with  three  stables  to  which  access  is  had  from  Yandewater  street. 
The  position  of  two  stables  fronting  on  Cliff  street  will  also  be  observed.  The  soap-and- 
candle  factory,  whose  frontage  is  shown  in  the  cut,  is  a  very  extensive  one,  and  its  ema- 
nations vitiate  the  atmosphere  for  a  considerable  space  around. 

T,  T,  T,  represent  a  series  of  tan-vats,  in  the  rear  of  a  leather  factory  on  Frankfort 
street,  which  generally  contains  a  large  number  of  green  hides  in  a  very  offensive  con- 
dition. The  peculiar  stench  from  this  source  is  usually  quite  perceptible  through  the 
entire  area  shown  in  the  engraving. 

This  locality  lies  on  the  borders  of  a  former  marsh  known  as  "  Beekman's  Swamp." 
The  appearance  of  every  inhabitant  of  this  region  indicates  a  low  and  vitiated  condition 
of  the  system,  rendering  it  specially  susceptible  to  adynamic  forms  of  fever,  which, 
during  epidemic  visitations,  have  on  several  occasions  spread  with  terrific  rapidity 
through  the  entire  quarter.  Typhus  fever  has  prevailed  during  the  past  year  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  in  some  of  these  houses,  while  small-pox  has  been  rife  in  the  tenant- 
houses  on  Yandewater  street.  It  has  been  observed  that  scarlatina  is  especially  malig- 
nant and  fatal  here. 


5 


66 


All  the  evils  connected  with  the  tenant-house  system  in  Xew-York  have  been 
steadily  increasing  for  several  3'ears  past ;  and  although  the  system  itself,  as  it 
exists  here,  is  peculiar  to  this  city,  there  is  reason  for  believing  that  both  the 
system  and  all  its  evils  might  be  effectuall}'  controlled  by  the  timely  and  well- 
directed  efforts  of  the  inteUigent  and  wealthy  classes  of  citizens.    A  few  wor- 
th}^ citizens  and  wealthy  capitalists  have  given  excellent  examples  of  improved 
construction  and  care  of  such  houses,  but  there  is  wanted  a  comprehensive  ap- 
preciation of  the  peculiar  necessities  and  perils  of  the  city,  and  of  the  real  wants, 
disabilities,  and  sufferings  of  the  poorer  classes  of  the  population  in  consequence 
of  the  gross  defects,  overcrowding,  and  insalubrity  of  the  miserable  abodes  of 
these  classes.    The  limited  area  of  the  city,  the  unparalleled  increase  of  popu- 
lation, particularly  of  the  foreign  emigrant  class,  and  necessitous  conditions 
that  induce  the  poor  to  accept  such  fever-nests  and  dens  of  death  as  avaricious 
and  unscrupulous  speculators  have  constructed  solely  for  purposes  of  rapid 
gains,  have  become  matters  of  public  concern.* 

EXTRACT  FEOM  REPORT  OF  DR.  JANES,   INSPECTOR,   TWENTIETH  DISTRICT. 

For  what  calls  most  imperatively  for  reform,  is  the  present  construction  of 
tenant-houses  as  regards  light,  ventilation,  and  every  necessar}^  comfort.  Not 
only  does  the  present  system  of  overcrowding  these  pent  up  and  unventilated 
apartments,  and  the  consequent  necessity  of  inhaling  an  atmosphere  loaded  with 
carbonic  acid  gas,  and  the  poisonous  exhalations  from  human  bodies,  enervate  the 
physical  }jowers,  and  predispose  to  diseases  of  the  worst  type,  but  its  demoral- 
izing effects  are  fearful  to  contemplate,  and  instead  of  being  the  most  attractive, 
home  is  often  rendered  the  most  uncomfortable  and  uninviting  spot  on  earth. . 
Hence  it  is  that  the  husband  spends  his  evenings  at  the  neighboring  dram-shop 
or  the  gambling-house,  in  search  of  comforts  which  his  own  fireside  denies  him. 
Hence  it  is  that  children  reared  amid  the^e  scenes  of  poverty,  intemperance,  and 
the  whole  train  of  their  attendant  evils,  becoming  dailv  more  familiar  with  pro- 
fanity and  every  species  of  wickedness,  grow  up  willing  and  early  victims  to 
whatever  vicious  or  criminal  course  may  seem  to  them  more  attractive  than  their 
own  miserable  abodes.  And  hence  I  believe  much  of  the  vice,  immoralit}',  and 
crime  of  our  city  to  be  due  to  the  construction,  overcrowding,  and  mismanage- 
ment of  tenant-houses. 

Efforts  are  from  time  to  time  made  to  relieve  the  condition  of  the  poor,  for  which 
associations  and  individuals  have  contributed  largely,  all  of  which,  however,  is 
but  a  sprinkling  of  rain  upon  this  great  waste  of  human  misery  and  destitution. 
The  man  of  God  who,  in  the  exercise  of  his  sacred  ofhce,  fi"equents  these  abodes 
of  poverty  in  the  hopes  of  directing  the  attention  of  some  poor  creature  to  the 
one  thing  needful,  too  often  encounters  only  that  sullen  or  desponding  indiffer- 
ence resulting  from  a  long  fiuniliarit}^  with  ever}'  thing  that  is  cheerless  and  un- 
attractive, if  we  would  elevate  the  condition  of  these  people,  we  must  begin  by 
relieving  their  social  and  domestic  necessities,  and  furnishing  them  with  habita- 
tions where  they  can  enjoy  sunshine  and  pure  air,  with  abundant  facilities  for 
personal  and  domiciliar}'  cleanliness.  "We  then  shall  have  taken  the  first  step 
toward  improving  their  moral  as  well  as  physical  condition,  and  pointing  them 
to  the  fulfillment  of  man's  higher  destiny.  But  the  dark  and  cheerless  rear  ten- 
ment,  with  its  unventilated  apartments,  its  damp  and  dingy  walls,  and  the  at- 
tendant neglect  of  all  sanitary  measures,  is  wholly  incompatible  with  man's  so- 
cial and  moral  nature,  destroys  all  noble  aspirations,  ruins  the  most  vigorous 
health,  and  opens  wide  the  gate  to  mental,  moral,  physical,  and  spiritual  death. 

The  Sanitary  Inspector  of  the  Fourteenth  District  (eastern  hali  of  Seventeenth 
Ward)  submits  a  record  of  49  places  where  typhus  prevails,  or  has  recently 
occurred  in  his  district,  under  circumstances  similar  to  the  causes  that  localized 
the  same  fever  in  the  places  just  described  in  the  Sixth  District ;  and  from  the 
Fifteenth  District  the  following  condensed  report  of  three  fever-nests  is  sub- 
mitted : 


*  Outline  of  tlie  Progress  of  Sanitary  Improvement.  By  Dr.  E.  Harris.  Wiley  & 
Halstead.  1858. 


67 


No.  —  East 
No.  —  East 
No.  —  East 


a 

§3 


10th,  Vear,  4  stories. 
11th,  rear,  3  stories. 
4th,  Lront  and  rear.  -  18 


40 


16 


SI 


•=3  *>'3 


«  2 


2; 


o  , 

o  § 


c  s 

iz; 
o 

EH 


10  lin4 


O  SI, 


lin  10 


6    8  in  24  lin  S 


27  lins'linlH 

I  I 


Remarks. 


Overcrowded  unven- 
tilated,  privies  and 
court  very  filthy. 
I  Here  are  4  cases  of 
V  typhus,  and  1  of 
)  small-pox. 
I  Here  are  8  cases  of 


tyi)lius,  and 
sniall-pox. 


2  of 


In  the  dbox:e  'buildings  the  average  length  of  human  life  is  nine  years  ! 

EXTRACT  FKOM  REPORT  OF  JAMES  L.   LITTLE,   M.D.,  INSPECTOR  OF  NORTH  HALF  OF 

TWENTIETH  WARD. 

Tenant-Houses. — In  my  district  there  are  417  tenant-houses,  of  which  345 
are  built  of  brick ;  72  are  frame  buildings.  There  are  3G1  front  and  56  rear 
buildings.  Of  this  number  321  are  furnished  with  proper  sewerage,  and  the 
remaining  105  have  no  communication  with  the  sewers.  Slops,  etc.,  are  thrown 
into  the  street-gutters  and  garbage-boxes.  There  are  2G14  families,  comprising 
11,993  individuals,  living  in  these  tenant-houses,  of  whom  337  live  in  cellars. 

Ventilation. — These  houses  are  constructed  so  as  to  contain  as  many  families 
as  possible,  and  generally  no  attempt  is  made  to  secure  for  the  inmates  proper 
ventilation.  This  is  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  high  rate  of  mortality  which 
occurs  in  these  dweUings.  In  the  words  of  a  meinbcr  of  the  Council  of  Hy- 
giene, ''The  close,  uncleansed,  unventilated  residences  of  the  poor  become  the 
homes  of  disease  and  pauperism;  the  crowded  tenements  into  which  avarice 
drives  poverty,  in  filthy  streets  and  noisome  courts,  become  perennial  sources 
of  deadly  miasmata  that  may  be  wafted  to  the  neighboring  mansions  of  wealth 
and  refinement,  to  cause  sickness  and  mourning  there."' 

Impurity  of  the  air  and  a  miserable  home  involve  ill-health,  degradation, 
and  an  early  death;  and  the  subject  of  providing  proper  homes  for  the  poor 
and  the  laboring  classes  of  tliis  city,  is  one  which  should  engage  the  earnest 
attention  of  our  Legislature. 


Fig.  2. 


According  to  authority,  a  person 
breathes  14  cubic  feet  of  air  per  hour. 
This  quantity  of  air,  when  returned 
from  the  lungs  exhausted  of  the  vital 
element,  oxygen,  is  charged  with  car- 
bonic acid  to  such  an  extent  that  it  vi- 
tiates to  a  great  and  poisonous  degree 
100  cubic  feet  more  of  air.  The  an- 
nexed figure  represents  this  14  cubic 
feet  which  is  used  per  hour  by  each 
individual.  The  adjoining  figure  2  re- 
presents a  space  of  125  cubic  feet. 

The  inclosed  figure  represents  a 
man  of  ordinary  size  compared  with 
the  above  cubic  space,  and  it  shows  at 
a  glance  the  small  amount  of  air  pro- 
vided for  the  individual.  The  next  fig- 
ure, 3,  shows  a  space  of  512  cubic  feet 
as  compared  with  the  size  of  an  ordi- 


68 


nary  person.*  Novr,  many  of  the  dor- 
mitories of  these  tenant-houses  con- 
tain about  this  amount  of  space,  and 
are  generally  occupied  by  two  adults 
and  several  children. 

This  engraving  (Fig.  4)  shows  the 
proportion  which  1000  cubic  feet  bears 
with  the  above,  and  this  amount  few, 
if  any,  of  the  dormitories  give  to  a 
single  individual.  This  in  an  hour 
would  contain  nearly  five  times  the 
amount  of  carbonic  acid,  and  soon 
there  would  be  an  excess  of  impure 
air  for  each  individual. 

The  following  table  will  show  the 
average  cubical  feet  to  persons  living 
in  tenant-houses  in  this  district,  as  given  in  the  returns  of  the  Sanitary  In- 


Fig.  4. 


spection 


103 
330 
1486 
2355 
2351 
1G89 
1239 
903 
1587 


persons  have  between  200  and  300  cubic  feet. 


300 
400 
500 
600 
TOO 
800 
900 


400 
500 
600 
700 
800 
900 
1000 


1000  and  more 


EXTRACT  FROM    REPORT    OF    R.  L.   PARSONS,   M.D.,   IXSPECTOR    OF  TWEXTT-SECOND 

DISTRICT. 

Overcrowding. — Apartments  are  often  so  overcrowded  that  only  from  four  to 
six  hundred  cubic  feet  of  air  are  allowed  to  each  occupant,  taking  into  estimate 
the  whole  suite  of  apartments  ;  and  b}^  night  the  number  of  cubic  feet  to  each 
individual  is  often  reduced  as  low  as  two  hundred  feet.  A  house  with  these 
overcrowded  apartments  very  often  contains  from  fifty  to  sixty  individuals,  and 
not  unfrequently  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  or  one  hundred  and  twenty. 
This  overcrowding  of  apartments  is  a  direct  and  powerful  cause  of  the  general 
deterioration  of  health  in  the  occupants.  It  is  especially  manifest  in  the  sick- 
ness and  death  ratio  among  children,  who  are  almost  constantly  exposed,  and 
have  less  powers  of  resistance.  For  examples  of  the  large  sickness  ratio  among 
the  children  inhabiting  these  crowded  apartments,  it  is  only  necessary  to  visit 
them  and  make  a  cursory  inspection.  x\nd  it  may  be  added  that  of  all  the  causes 
that  tend  to  deteriorate  the  health  of  children,  this  is  probably  among  the  most 
efficient.  In  addition  to  the  general  cachexia  above  referred  to,  the  occupants 
are  predisposed  to  contract  contagious  and  endemic  diseases  which  they  might 
escape  if  in  better  health;  and  when  contracted,  these  diseases  are  rendered, 
by  the  above  conditions,  more  difficult  of  control,  and  more  fatal  in  their  re- 
sults. Thus  we  often  see  an  endemic  disease,  as  typhus  fever,  attacking  in 
succession  every  unprotected  inmate  of  an  apartment.  But  instead  of  one 
crowded  apartment  there  is  usually  a  large  number,  so  that  the  evil  is  multi- 
plied still  further.  And  not  only  this,  but  there  are  whole  squares  filled  with 
these  crowded  houses,  forming  vast  centres  for  the  incubation  and  dissemina- 
tion of  disease.  The  remedy  is  simple,  whether  it  is  practicable  or  not,  namely, 
the  limitation  of  the  number  of  persons  occupying  apartments  and  domiciles. 


*  The  Builder,    Yol.  XYII.  page  54. 


69 


Local  Mortuary  Statistics. 

The  following  statistics  of  two  houses,  front  and  rear,  pertaining  to  these  premises 
■were  reported  to  the  Council  of  Hygiene  in  the  month  of  January,  1865,  in  the  form 
prescribed  for  "  Special  Reports  upon  the  Sickness,  2IortaUty,  and  Physical  Condition  in 
Cro  wded  Tenant-Homes. ' ' 


Street,  and  No.  of  the  House. 

Xos.  37  and  39  Park  Street. 

Character  and  surroundings  of 
the  House. 

These  tenant-houses  are  6  stories  in  height,  with  a  basement. 
An  immense  junk-store  and  a  7  story  tenant-house  on  the 
south  side,  extend  the  entire  depth  of  lots,  and  thereby 
entirely  shut  off  ventilation  and  lijrhting  from  that  direc- 
tion.   There  are  stables  at  the  back  of  the  rear  houses. 

No.  of  Families  in  the  House. 

65. 

No.  of  Persons  in  the  House. 

307.  fW^ith  an.  allowance  of  300  cubic  feet  of  air-space.J 

No.  of  Children  in  the  House, 
under  10  years  of  age. 

42. 

No.  of  Children  that  have  died 
during  the  last  6  months. 

6. 

Total  No.  of  Deaths  at  all  ages 
during  the  last  year. 

u. 

Total  No.  of  persons  now  Sick 
and  Diseased. 

77. 

The  Ratio  and  total  Sickness 
in  total  population. 

1  in  4  constantly  sick. 

The  Ratio  total  Mortality  in 
population  for  the  year. 

1  in  22. 

Remarks. 

Small-pox  and  typhus  have  existed  for  some  time  in  these 
domiciles. 

The  statistics  of  the  next  tenant-houses,  southward  in  the  same  block,  a  vast  junk 
store  intervening  as  just  mentioned,  are  given  as  follows  by  Mr.  S.  B.  Halliday,  the  faith- 
ful missionary  to  the  city  poor,  and  present  Superintendent  of  the  five  Points  House  of 
Industry : 

.  .  "The  lot  on  which  this  building  stands  is  48  feet  2  inches  wide,  by  91 
feet  6  inches  in  depth.  There  is  both  a  front  and  rear  building.  The  front  building, 
including  the  basement,  is  eight  floors  or  stories.  The  basement  is  crowded  with  fam- 
ilies, and  there  are  two  groggeries  in  the  front  portions  of  the  next  floor,  fiimilies  living 
back  of  the  shops ;  so  that"  families  are  piled  up  in  this  establishment  one  above  the 
other,  eight  tiers  high.  In  the  front  building  I  found  50  families,  with  two  tenements 
or  sets  of  apartments  unoccupied.  In  these  families  were  52  men,  57  women,  30  boys, 
and  46  girls.  The  number  of  children  which  have  died  in  these  families  is  38.  The 
number  of  still  births,  11.  The  whole  number  of  living  children,  76;  whole  number 
deceased,  49  ;  nearly  two  thirds  as  many  having  died  as  have  survived.  In  13  of  these 
families  no  children  had  been  born,  and  in  28  families  with  children  no  deaths  had  oc- 
curred, so  that  49  children  have  died  in  the  remaining  14  families,  an  average  of  almost 
four  deaths  to  each  family.    I  give  the  ages  of  the  deceased  children : 


2  of  11  years 
9  " 
6  " 
4  " 
3  " 
2  " 

18  months. 


2  of  17  months 


14 
13 
12 
10 

8 
6 


1  of  5  months 

2  "  3  " 
2  "  2  " 

2    U   J  u 

2  "  3  davs 
1  "  1  " 
11  still-born. 


"  The  families  in  this  building,  with  few  exceptions,  are  from  Ireland,  and  with  as 
few  exceptions,  are  Catholics.  They  are  as  a  class  possessed  of  more  intelligence  than 
the  generality  of  the  Irish  people,  tlie  great  majority  being  able  to  both  read  and  write. 
The  ages  are  as  follows : 


70 


25  01  1 

year 

2  of  19 

12  "  2 

4  "  20 

n  u  o 

y  o 

u 

1  "  21 

6  "  4 

(( 

4  "  22 

5  "  5 

"  23 

1  D 

({ 

6  "  24 

0  7 

1  "  25 

X  o 

(( 

2  "  9 

(( 

10  "  27 

2  "  10 

(( 

9  "  28 

1  "  11 

(( 

2  "  29 

3  "  14 

(( 

17  "  30 

1  "  16 

u 

1  "  31 

1  "  18 

(( 

2  "  32 

1  of  33  years 


2 

34 

3 

35 

1 

u 

36 

(( 

1 

" 

37 

" 

8 

40 

u 

1 

41 

(( 

6 

45 

u 

(( 

1 

46 

(( 

1 

49 

it 

u 

1 

50 

a 

(( 

1 

55 

u 

(( 

1 

60 

(( 

u 

1 

65 

a 

*'  In  the  rear  building  there  were  17  families.  In  these  17  families  there  were  16 
men,  22  women,  18  boys,  and  7  girls  ;  in  all,  63  persons.  16  of  these  families  are 
Irish,  and  one  German.    The  ages  were  as  follows: 


5  of  1 

year 

2  of  14 

years 

1  of  34  rears 

1  "  2 

1  "  15 

1  "  36  '  " 

2  "  3 

(( 

1  "  16 

<( 

2  "  38  " 

1  "  4 

1  "  20 

(( 

5  "  40  " 

2  "  5 

(( 

1  "  21 

(( 

1  "  41  " 

1  "  6 

(( 

1  "  22 

(( 

1  "  45  " 

2  "  7 

(( 

3  "  23 

(( 

2  "  48  " 

1  "  8 

(C 

1  "  24 

(( 

.     1  "  49  " 

1  "  9 

(( 

1  "  25 

u 

4  "  50 

3  "  10 

(( 

2  "  27 

(( 

2  "  55  " 

1  "  12 

u 

4  "  30 

(( 

2      60  " 

2  "  13 

(( 

1  "  32 

(( 

1  "  65  " 

*'  In  two  of  these  families  no  children  had  been  born.  In  the  other  15  families  the 
children  that  had  died  exceeded  the  number  of  living  nearly  one  third.  There  were  25 
living;  and,  hicluding  one  still-birth,  there  had  been  37  deaths  of  children  in  the  15 
families.    The  ages  of  these  children  at  their  decease  was  as  follows  : 


of  26  years 


"  24 

"  18 

"  12 

(( 

"  11 

(( 

"  10 

(C 

"  8 

(( 

"  6 

C( 

1  of    5  Tears 


2 

(1 

3  '  " 

2 

"  6  " 

3 

3  " 

1 

u  5  u 

2 

18  months 

3 

"  4  " 

1 

u 

16  " 

2 

a  2  " 

1 

l( 

15  " 

1 

u  1  .c 

3 

(( 

14  " 

2 

"  3  weeks 

1 

u 

10 

2 

"  7  days. 

1  of  9  months 


*'  The  average  age  of  these  children  at  death  was  a  fraction  over  three  and  one  third 
years.  Not  including  the  six  oldest,  the  average  age  of  the  remainder  is  a  fraction  over 
one  year. 

"  It  is  a  shocking  fact,  that  more  children  by  one  third  should  have  died  than  have 
survived  in  these  families  ;  yet  I  have  no  doubt  that  a  critical  examination  of  the  facta 
in  regard  to  the  deaths  in  the  families  of  the  five  blocks,  the  census  of  which  was  taken 
by  me,  would  have  shown  a  nearly  similar  result.  The  whole  nuinber  of  persons  dom- 
iciled on  this  lot  was  24S." — Montldy  Record  of  the  Five  Foints  House  of  Industry. 


7L 


Prevailing  Diseases  in  one  Square  in  1864,^)?7'or  to  Oct.  Ist. 

[Domiciles  in  which  sickness  occurred  are  designated  by  letter.] 


Two  infants  died  of  diphtheria. 

An  infant  died  in  warm  weather. 

Two  infants,  spoon-fed,  died  in  warm  wea- 
ther, twelve  and  fourteen  days  old. 

An  infimt  has  had  the  bowel-complaint 
during  the  six  weeks  preceding  Oct.  1st. 

An  infant  has  been  sick  several  weeks,  and 
is  now  much  reduced,  the  mother  says, 
'■''icith  its  teethy 

An  infant  died  of  cholera  infantum  in 
warm  weather. 

A  boy  two  years  old  had  typhus  fever  in 
September.  An  infant  died  in  the  sum- 
mer. 

An  infant  had  bowel-complaint  in  hot 
weather. 

An  infant  had-  bowel  complaint  in  hot 
weather. 

A  spoon-fed  infant  died  of  cholera  infan- 
tum. A  girl  about  eight  years  old  has 
typhus  fever  at  present,  (Oct.  1st.) 

Two  children  had  dysentery. 

Two  children  had  inflammation  of  the  eyes. 

A  child  twenty-one  months  old  had  diar- 
rhea all  summer. 

Two  infonts  had  cholera  infantum  ;  one 
died.  One  child  has  inflammation  of  the 
eyes. 

An  infant  one  year  old  had  cholera  infan- 
tum. 

An  infant  had  cholera  infantum  in  the 
summer.  A  girl  had  fever,  (probably 
typhus.) 

Two  cases  of  dysentery,  and  three  of 

cholera  infantum,  in  hot  weather. 
One  case  of  cholera  infantum. 
An  infant  in  the  summer  very  sick  with 

cholera  infantum.    A  girl  eight  years 

old  now  has  fever. 
An  infant  had  cholera  infantum. 
Severe  attack  of  dysentery  in  an  adult. 
An  infant  died  in  warm  weather  with-  the 

bowel-complaint. 
An  infant  died  of  cholera  infantum. 
An  infant  sick  with  diarrhea  in  summer, 

recovered. 


TENTH  AVENUE 


m 


I/O 


lOT"?  AV.  HORSE  CAR 
R.R. STABLES 


□ 


4 


00 


©?l  □ 


Or 


n 


do 


5 


IXI 


0      O  Q 


NINTH 


AVENUE 


Diagram  of  one  Block  in  Twenty-second 
Ward. 


I 


